I must point out to the Deputy that prior to the formation of this Government, the Oireachtas committee of all parties was in favour by a vast majority, first of all, of taking very strong measures in relation to climate change. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae is in a very small minority-----

-----of people who believe that climate change is not happening.

He is also in a very small minority in this House who believe we should do nothing about it and just let China or the United States do it, and that we should paddle on. I do not agree with him.

We are not playing our part right now. We are not doing enough in terms of climate change. We are behind. Carbon emissions are increasing.

The challenges we face between now and 2030 are significant. I am trying to be honest here. Let us not pretend that we are doing something extra or better than others.

We have to step up to the plate. We did not do enough in the past-----

-----in respect of climate change. There are win-wins here. The Central Bank of Ireland said there will be 88,000 extra jobs. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae talks about closing the country; a doomsday scenario. For God's sake, during the pandemic, we took measures-----

-----that rescued this economy and put it on the pathway to a dramatic recovery.

We want to do the same now in the context of this war-----

-----in order to respond intelligently and sensibly to enable us to protect jobs and the economy, but, above all, to protect the quality of life of younger generations yet to come.

The Minister, Deputy McConalogue, has been very active in engaging with the fishing industry in respect of all these issues and in ensuring a pathway to a more structured relationship with the European Commission into the future than we have had in the past, which has caused many of these difficulties. The Minister is very aware of these issues and is engaging with all concerned to bring about a resolution in respect of them.

We are doing everything we possibly can to make sure that the sanctions have effect and that assets that are meant to be are frozen. That is happening in terms of the sanctions we have already introduced. President Zelenskyy was very clear in stating that more needing to be done, certainly in the context of sanctions. The big debate has been on oil, gas and coal. We in Ireland have been very strongly of the view that the sanctions should include oil and coal. We believe there is a need for engagement with those cou…

In the first instance, I will say that the most immediate focus with regard to this matter at the DAA has been on reducing the inconvenience caused by long queueing for the public at large. The DAA has recruited more than 100 staff and is actively recruiting more. It is responsible for staffing and recruitment and for the terms and conditions of employment of staff. The Minister of State, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, has been holding daily briefings with the CEO, Mr. Dalton Philips, and other senior DAA staff. The i…

There are various protections for tenants in the first instance. I am not involved in every case but I would appeal to the landlords in question to do everything they can to protect those tenants and not evict them in light of the circumstances we are in and the significant difficulties in securing alternative accommodation. I do not have the full details of the case or the circumstances involved. Again, in respect of tenants, a lot of protections and legislation have been implemented by this House to do everything…

I also commend Deputy Berry on his initiative, which acted as a catalyst for the Ceann Comhairle's invitation to President Zelenskyy to address the Dáil and Seanad. In respect of carbon budgets, the sectoral reform targets will come later. Extensive work is ongoing with all sectors in that regard. This all arises from the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021, which was enacted in July of last year. It created the legal framework and the timelines in respect of all the actions that have to …

The issue of microgeneration was dealt with in the budget and the feed-in tariff is due to come into effect in July to help and to deal with that issue once and for all.

In July.

It is intended to support, in particular, farmers and a variety of initiatives relating to microgeneration.

I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very fair issue. As she will be aware, we have increased the fuel allowance over the past 18 months or more, from approximately €600 to more than €1,000, and we have added the €200 electricity bill cut, which will also apply. The cost of disability report has been referred to the national disability inclusion strategy steering group, which the Minister of State with responsibility for disability, Deputy Rabbitte, is chairing. That process will relate the report to policy on …

The Deputy made a very fair point - and has made it consistently - in respect of the school transport scheme. As the Minister for Education has indicated, she is undertaking a review of school transport. In my view, going back to the issue of climate change, if we want to get people out of cars, it makes sense that we would broaden the remit of the school transport scheme to facilitate people in bringing children to school. When we brought in free second level education in the 1960s, school transport was the key en…