I will vote in support of the Bill. Recording the carbon footprint on the labelling of products would represent a small step forward. It is something large numbers of ordinary people will respond to. The point has to be made that a measure such as this is a drop in the bucket. I support it. Let us get it done, but there are much bigger issues that we need to address such as free public transport for all, a massive State programme to retrofit homes, a four-day working week with a 32-hour maximum, a massive State pro…

Rents went up 14.6% in Cork county from the end of September 2020 to the end of September 2021, according to Daft.ie. Huge parts of Cork county are not designated as rent pressure zones, nor are they covered by any of the Government's rent controls. How can the Taoiseach justify this? When is he going to extend rent controls to the county as a whole and, more than that, to the country as a whole? Kerry and Clare had some of the highest rent increases. Furthermore, how can the Taoiseach explain so many vacant local …

There have been several ambulance crashes in Cork in recent months. Deputy Sherlock gave one example of an ambulance that had been on a 600 km journey. The standard of driving in the service is high, so we must ask what factors are at play. Could it be the case that fatigue might have been a factor in the other cases? It is not at all unusual for there to be overruns in the schedule for an ambulance team. Overruns of up to five hours are not unknown. Often, an overrun can be linked to an intercounty run and sometim…

By no means least, a Cheann Comhairle. The reopening of the United States of America for non-essential travel is an important moment for Aer Lingus. The company is running 70 flights to the United States this week and every seat on those flights has been booked. The company now plans to increase transatlantic capacity for the months ahead. This should be the moment Aer Lingus withdraws the austerity proposals with which it has confronted its workforce. Those proposals, as the Taoiseach knows, include a wage freeze …

Despite signing a pledge to cut global methane emissions by 30%, the Taoiseach has made it clear that he aims to cut them here by a mere 10%. He has indicated that he aims to make up for the shortfall in methane cuts by delivering instead on carbon cuts. Does the Taoiseach accept that he is not comparing like with like? Methane breaks down in the atmosphere more quickly than carbon and methane cuts, therefore, have added value from the point of view of combating climate change. Does the Taoiseach further accept tha…

Mercosur-----

Last week at COP26, a deal was signed by 20 nations, as well as some financial institutions, halting finance for new overseas fossil fuel development projects and pledging to divert all such moneys towards green energy. Ireland was not one of the signatories to this deal. Why not? Given the way Irish banks were used in the cum-ex and cum-cum scandals, is the Taoiseach concerned that finance might now be channelled through the Irish Financial Services Centre for fossil fuel development projects overseas? Were the Ta…

A woman in her 50s was attacked on Sunday evening in Fermoy while out walking her dog. A man in his 20s or 30s approached her and struck her to the ground without warning and sexually assaulted her. He fled when two witnesses answered her cries. The Garda says it would have been far more serious had gardaí not arrived. The woman was taken to hospital. This is just one of the latest examples of Ireland's epidemic of gender-based violence. The latest evidence from Trinity College and Maynooth University shows 49% of …

COP26 is a United Nations climate change summit but there are more than just nations represented there. More than 500 accredited people at the COP have links to the fossil fuel industry. More than 100 fossil fuel companies have representatives in attendance at the conference. There are more fossil fuel company representatives at COP than in the largest national delegation there, namely, the Brazilian delegation. The number of accredited persons with links to the fossil fuel industry is greater than the combined num…

Should they be excluded from the COP?

I want to make a few points about public transport in Cork. The transport news that has dominated today has been the news of the delays in key public transport initiatives in Dublin. It is in sharp contrast with what the Government said last week at COP26 and at the launch of the climate action plan that there are delays in key public transport initiatives. A key public transport initiative in Cork is the plan for light rail. We need to know when we will have light rail and we will not be tolerating delays to it. D…

That is bizarre-----

There is a lot of wind in this Chamber.

It is my turn now. It is clear that the political establishment are impressed with themselves and with COP 26 to date, but are the young people impressed? They saw a conference opened up by Boris Johnson, dressed in green, but know that this is a man who slashed tax on domestic flights and supports subsidies for the fossil fuel industry. They saw Jeff Bezos, the rocket man, pledge $2 billion to protect the environment. Yet, in one single year, this man's company, Amazon, emitted 44.4 million metric tonnes of CO2, m…

The earth is not dying; it is being killed. The people who are killing it have names and addresses. My neighbours and constituents will do their bit and I urge them to do a bit more. However, it is not their names and addresses that folk singer, Utah Phillips, was referring to; it is the names and addresses of big oil, big gas, etc., and the big banks that finance them. The Taoiseach talked about chaos. They are people who are threatening the world with climate chaos. The World Economic Forum, a conservative body, …

I too will be brief. I will raise the issue of migrant fishers. A review of the atypical scheme has been promised. This commitment coincided with, or possibly arose because of, recent research by Maynooth University's department of law, which catalogued ongoing abuses experienced by migrant fishers. Will the Taoiseach commit to meaningful consultation with the International Transport Workers Federation, ITWF, in the course of the review, given that it has committed personnel and resources to working with migrant fi…

The Taoiseach cannot see the wood for the trees.

A Cheann Comhairle, can we say one minute per question?

You are waffling now. Come on.

A Cheann Comhairle, let us say one minute per question.