The EU is built on partnerships and collaboration. It works because member states commit to pulling their weight, particularly on cross-border challenges like climate change. Climate change policy within the EU relies on the key principle of trust that every country will do its part. Today, we learned in The Irish Times that Ireland might be trying to buy its way out of delivery by funding renewable projects abroad rather than meeting targets at home. That is not partnership; that is avoidance. That avoidance will …

People all over this country are being absolutely crushed by incredibly high electricity prices that are just going up and up. We have 317,000 households in arrears. These are people who work hard and do all the right things but just cannot manage to keep their heads about water. It really does not have to be this way. The Social Democrats have put forward a proposal for solar for all, a doubling of the grants, a battery grant for households, to include the warmer homes scheme in the solar panels scheme and to also…

I thank and acknowledge the Minister for being here today. I have often spoken in this House about animal welfare, particularly puppy farms and the regulation of dog breeding. One of the things that we can agree on in this House is that Ireland is a nation of dog lovers. If the Minister goes down any street, he will find someone out walking their much-loved dog. They form a huge part of our homes and our families. Unfortunately, there are far too many people in this country who are not dog lovers, and, in fact, see…

I thank the Minister. I appreciate his answer and clearly this is something he wants to drive strongly forward, so I look forward to working with him on it. It is a really important piece of work and I have always wondered why there was never any previous moves to strengthen it. It is good to hear the Minister is taking that seriously and I look forward to hopefully seeing the results and report from the stakeholder group because it is important it is taken into account in the legislation. We will wait for that pro…

Dublin Bus recently announced that it is going to introduce a bus tracking system to help it combat the issue of ghost buses. This will be really welcome because it will bring transparency and real-time information to bus users. Why is Go Ahead Ireland not required to implement a similar system? It would be incredibly useful. In my constituency of Wicklow, since Go Ahead Ireland was awarded contracts, we have had nothing but problems with buses not showing up, buses driving past people, buses not actually going on …

Approximately 30,000 women take part in the VHI mini-marathon. It is the world's largest all-women 10 km race. It raises approximately €10 million per year for charities and it has raised over €255 million since it began. This is a hugely important event. Tens of thousands of women and their families participate in it and it raises money that charities across the country simply cannot do without. People understand the need for track maintenance, know it has to happen and appreciate that days that are quieter, like …

I thank the Minister. I understand, and everyone understands, there is no easy way of doing it but there are certain weekends where the demand is so high it warrants running the DART. Perhaps it could just be for that individual day and the works could be done at other points in the weekend, which is what used to happen. Last year there were no additional Luas services provided on the weekend for the VHI mini-marathon and no additional bus services. I have been contacted by people who ended up arriving late to the …

Some 14% of Irish people are unable afford to heat their homes or pay their energy bills and 317,000 people are in arrears on their electricity bills. This is only going to get worse. The Social Democrats have called for a targeted energy credit scheme for households earning less than €70,000. That is a short-term measure. Obviously, we need longer term and more sustainable measures to deal with the energy crisis. The Tánaiste has spoken about heat pumps and electric cars, but these are out of the reach of many peo…

Every supermarket shelf, pharmacy stock-room and construction supply chain relies on trucks moving safely and affordably across the country. When haulage costs rise, we all pay the price. Hauliers face extreme cost pressures with volatile fuel costs and rising insurance premiums. They are also struggling with the increasing general cost of living alongside the rest of the country. The Government response has been to offer direct cash payments to haulage and passenger transport operators, with payments ranging from …

A key discussion point at Davos this year was energy security and electrification. Were there any discussions in relation to the decoupling of gas from electricity prices? We have seen wholesale electricity prices go up 19% already this month as a direct consequence of the invasion of Iran but we really have not seen the impacts of the invasion of Ukraine being rectified on the electricity market, and gas prices set our electricity prices at the moment. Has the Taoiseach had any discussions, either with President v…

I will take ownership of the Arklow bank as well. This clearing house was established to identify the impediments and challenges, which the Taoiseach did not refer to at all. There are clear impediments to offshore wind. As Deputy Byrne stated, Arklow bank is no longer producing offshore wind energy. We were producing more 20 years ago than we are now. The interconnector to France is required, not only to export electricity but also in the event we need to import it. We heard recently that it is going to be delayed…

They would be better off working on the interconnector.

I welcome this motion and thank the Green Party for bringing it forward. I absolutely agree that the energy crisis is a climate crisis, but it is also a social justice crisis. The reason we are here and the reason so many people are at the mercy of global and international fossil fuel shocks is that this Government and the previous Government did not put in place plans to insulate communities and homeowners from these energy shocks. It is not the case that we did not have warnings previously. After the invasion of …

Could I have an update on the CRU price-gouging investigation that the Minister called for with regard to energy and electricity prices?

We are all aware that hundreds of thousands of households are finding it difficult to pay their energy bills and what we saw last week is a direct result of that. An estimated 315,000 people are in arrears on their electricity bills. Many of them have been in arrears for more than 19 months. These are people who are still not able to catch up with the incredible price shocks we experienced after the Ukraine invasion. One of the roles of the CRU is to protect customers. The Minister has asked the CRU to look at the …

It is clear that the Minister of State has had no update from the CRU on this. He provided no information or timeline on its examination of price gouging. It is incredible that six months after the IEA highlighted that wholesale electricity price reductions were not being passed on to Irish consumers at the same rate as other consumers across Europe and that five months after the Minister wrote to the CRU asking it to conduct an investigation into price gouging, the CRU cannot even give the Minister of State an upd…

Can the Minister outline how he is going to ensure that the integrity of and the intention behind the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 are preserved in light of planned legislation such as the Critical Infrastructure Bill, which seeks to undermine it, and will he make a statement on the matter?

No one can argue that we do not need to speed up infrastructure in this country. We have had a huge infrastructure deficit for decades and there are major infrastructure projects that we need to move on very quickly. Many of them will have a climate-positive outcome. However, it is incredible that while the Government is saying that climate obligations will remain central to those projects and the assessment of them, the Minister and the Government are bringing in a Bill that will disapply the climate Act. It essen…

Being able to object to developments is a core part of our democracy, it absolutely is. The projects need to be able to withstand those objections. The projects need to get those balances right. Oftentimes, the objectors are highlighting key flaws in the plans. It cannot be that we just throw them away because otherwise what is the point of the climate Act? Why bother bringing it in and why have it in legislation if the Government is just going to decide to set it aside whenever there is a project it wants to get t…

I welcome this Bill and the opportunity to discuss it and the subject of air pollution with the Minister of State this afternoon. I am glad to see that the Government is strengthening the enforcement of air pollution law and that authorised officers will now have enhanced powers of inspection, sampling and intervention. The introduction of fixed payment notices and compliance notices for more efficient enforcement is a positive change. I am very pleased to see the establishment of fuel registration systems and, I h…