With the greatest of respect, the Deputy is about-----

-----the electoral and political exploitation of this, rather than looking at it from a point of view of substance.

I thank the Deputy for raising those points. Members are looking for initiatives every week and I understand that. We have to stand back, however, and take a more considered view on how we respond to this fairly unique crisis, which has been caused by the combination of a pandemic, emerging from that pandemic and the imbalance of supply and demand which that created and a terrible war, the likes of which we have not seen since the Second World War that is happening on the Continent of Europe and that is creating hu…

Hopefully, by the end of April, there will be a further return to this, with a fuller reform of the market by the end of May.

There is no point in tackling this with one measure alone. Pay policy is important. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has invited social partners to discuss extending the existing national pay agreement. It should be possible for us, as a society, to work through the different strands of income policy, pay, tax and welfare. The question is whether we can get agreement on prioritising those most in need and having a response that does not endanger the progress we are making in the economy and that does …

I know. There will be significant expenditure from here until the end of the year and beyond that. It is necessary and right. With the number of Ukrainians coming into the country, there will be expenditure on education, health and housing, of a significant nature. We have to get the balance right and not just react from week to week and month to month. I think the Deputy accepts that we should not.

To be clear, that will not be solved today but we need to engage with the social partners.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I salute and commend all those volunteers who are doing so much to help Ukrainian refugees to settle in this country. As I said this morning, "our home is your home". The initial focus of our response has been on accommodation. To date, 19,283 people have arrived from Ukraine. Of these, 11,800 have sought accommodation. There has been a huge effort. We have never had to respond so quickly to such a refugee crisis before. I pay a warm tribute to the public servant…

I appreciate where the Deputy is coming from, but I make the point that, as I said, the hotels, the guest houses and all those facilities are essential. You cannot put hundreds or thousands of people into accommodation without resourcing that. We are very appreciative of the voluntary pledges that came in. More work is needed in the first instance to go through those pledges as quickly as we possibly can to identify what is suitable to accommodate Ukrainian refugees. I can talk at great length with the Deputy about…

We saw that in Belarus last year when it put pressure on Lithuania, Poland and other countries-----

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. We need balance and perspective in the debate. I fully accept that the cost-of-living increases are having a significant impact on people. These are caused by a war and caused by a pandemic. Without question, the pandemic and the war have caused extraordinary increase in energy prices globally. This is happening now all over the world, not because of the carbon tax or anything else like that, but because of the impact on the energy market, because of restrictions on fuel an…

-----in wind energy, for example, and in other issues such as conservation and the preservation of bogs etc. I put it to the Deputy that we have to play our part as a country. The young people of this country want us to play a part.

The implication of what the Deputy has said is that this country should ignore climate change, should let other countries deal with it, that we that should paddle our own canoe and to hell with the consequences and that we should play no part like. Ireland from the foundation of the State believes in the international community. We believe in a rules-based order. We believe in playing our part.

Climate change is existential. I know that the Deputy does not agree with it. He denies that it is happening at all. I think that is his position which he has put forward in the House. I disagree with him. It is existential and we have a duty to the younger generations, to our children and to our children’s children not to stand still now, not to deflect and not to postpone. We do not have a choice. It is now or it is never.

It is nothing to do with Deputy Eamon Ryan. It is nothing to do with the Greens.

It should be the concern of every Deputy in this House and of every Senator.

It should be the concern of everybody.

We must act to protect this planet for our children and our children's children.

That is what should matter in this House.

I do not.