An independent TD has criticised his fellow Dáil members from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael who voted for the Climate Action Bill.
Roscommon-Galway TD Michael Fitzmaurice said that he “cannot understand how” rural TDs from the two largest government parties voted in favour of the bill last week.
“People in rural Ireland, particularly those from a farming background or those who have to commute for work, need to realise how their local representatives voted on the Climate Action Bill,” he stated.
“The parties will say that representatives will have an input on the sectoral emission ceilings, but the reality is that the minister [for climate and environment] can overrule them if a target cannot be agreed.
“The Climate Change Advisory Council is going to have a significant say moving forward when it comes to these targets. As it stands, we have a member of that council who has openly called for cuts to the national herd – despite all of the evidence against the merits of this proposal,” he added.
The TD argued that it was “imperative” that the make up of the council “fairly represents the population of Ireland” including rural Ireland and agriculture.
“We cannot allow a situation to develop where the bulk of the council is made up of professors and academics from cities who have no experience of what goes on in rural Ireland,” he warned.
“I fear that Ireland is placing the cart before the horse as this government continues to drive this ‘green agenda’.
“Ireland is staring down the barrel of energy blackouts by 2026 if we continue down this road. The green’s continue to harp on about the move to renewable energy. But building these off-shore wind farms take time and it will be years before they are up and running,” Fitzmaurice argued.
He went on: “As it stands, data centres in Dublin are bringing in tanker loads of oil because the ESB cannot guarantee them a power supply. We are importing peat and briquettes from abroad, while Bord na Móna is being forced to cease its peat harvesting operations.”
He stated that, in all of this, there is “little evidence” of a just transition.
“BNM’s move away from peat cost hundreds of people their jobs, both directly and indirectly. Where will the jobs come from to replace them? They certainly won’t come from wind turbines.
“This climate bill will be detrimental for rural Ireland in particular and I cannot understand how rural TDs from the likes of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael could have voted in favour of this,” he concluded.