Ciarán Ahern
Dublin South-West · Labour Party · Ireland
“What we are asking for today is simply that the Government lives up to the commitment made in the programme for Government to carry out a new, independent feasibility study for an extension of the MetroLink from where it is currently due to end in Charlemont, out to Dublin south west.”
“It examined quite a nonsensical route that finished abruptly in Knocklyon, and therefore it significantly underestimated the cost benefit of the project.”
“This all comes back to funding our schools. All too often, despite the much publicised overspend in the education budget, schools still have to fight tooth and nail to get the resources they need. I never predicted that so much of my time as a TD would be spent working with local schools on funding and resourcing issues.”
“As the capitation grant is not covering basic operating costs, many school boards feel that to avoid running deficits, which they will get into trouble for from their governing bodies, they have to find funds elsewhere.”
“As the Minister knows, parents are paying hand over fist for ancillary school costs, be it for school uniforms, laptops, school transport or the so-called voluntary contributions. We cannot say we have free education in this country if the whole architecture that enables proper participation is hugely expensive for parents.”
“Some parents are now having to pay hundreds of euro for devices if their children are to just fully participate in school. As this motion states, we are at risk of creating a digital divide and new inequalities in our education system unless we put further supports in place for low-income families. Kevin Shortall, principal of St.”
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“I begin by paying tribute, as others have done, to Cara Darmody. A 14-year-old obviously should not need to be such an ardent campaigner for autism supports and services but she is an incredible one and it was a pleasure to meet her and give her my support outside the gates of Leinster House this morning. Nearly everyday, like everyone here, I am contacted by parents in my constituency who either cannot get an assessment of needs for their child or, if they have got one, cannot get the necessary therapeutic supports. As we have spoken about, there are now over 15,000 children waiting for an assessment of needs in Ireland. Some 10% of those are in my own constituency of Dublin South-West. That is over 1,500 children; the third highest number in the country.”
“A State scheme for insurance or some form of annual grant funding, which we have called for already, would be a really helpful measure to allow them to grow and flourish and I ask the Minister to consider it. I want to again commend the Deputies on bringing forward this Bill. It is a really positive initiative and I urge the Minister to put it into action.”
“Often, they will provide workshops where people can learn how to repair common household items themselves too. A lot of them relate to bicycles and other things like that. We are blessed in Dublin South-West to have many community organisations who put the principles of sustainability and a circular economy into action. I particularly want to commend the new Priory Market that will open in Tallaght on the quantity of re-used materials that are being put into its new facilities. It looks absolutely stunning but is a really great example of the circular economy working. I believe we should be doing more to support these groups. I know that for many, insurance is a big issue.”
“Public enterprises have played a critical role in the industrial and economic development of this State and as we reshape our economy to a more sustainable and circular model, they must play a key role again. It could perhaps be developed from within the current Bord na Móna company structure, could provide for the development of a social pillar in the circular economy and could provide for more attractive working conditions, as well as focusing on training and ensuring sufficiently skilled workers to build up economic resilience and job safety in a growing sector. Before I conclude, I will pay tribute to the various community groups like the men’s and women’s sheds that run repair cafés and provide voluntary repair services in their local areas.”
“France has also introduced a law which bans the deliberate curtailment of the lifespan of a product, thereby addressing that issue of planned obsolescence, and has been strong in enforcing it. In 2020, France's consumer protection authority fined Apple €25 million for failing to inform customers that updating their phone’s software would slow the device down. There are things we can do to address these issues at a national level without necessarily waiting for co-ordinated action at EU level. This Bill and what it introduces is one example. I also ask the Government to consider the Labour Party proposal to establish a national recycling and repair company.”
“I am conscious that given the globalised nature of manufacturing, addressing planned obsolescence and the waste it creates is perhaps best addressed at an EU level and I am glad that work is being carried out in that regard but there are effective measures we can take at a national level. This Bill provides one. I know that Deputies Daly and Quinlivan took inspiration from a French law introduced in 2020 that brought in a scoring system for tech products and appliances where a sticker on packaging indicates an estimated lifespan and the durability and repairability of the product. It is simple but effective. It is something we in the Labour Party have called for to be introduced previously.”
“E-waste is one of the fastest growing waste streams and the proliferation of planned obsolescence is one of the key contributing factors. We see a lot of it with products like cars, laptops and phones. It is particularly frustrating with phones because often it is a software issue. The phone itself might be fine structurally but with iPhones, for example, if your phone is an older model it eventually cannot facilitate software updates and basically stops working. The practice of planned obsolescence plays into that linear economic model where we discard and replace instead of repairing. It is clearly unsustainable. The amount of raw materials exploited in making electronics and the amount of waste created when they are discarded is extremely damaging to the global environment.”
“Indeed, one of the key aspects of that directive is that information on repair conditions and services should be provided with products. I acknowledge that in this Bill's provisions apply to certain products like laptops and washing machines but I welcome the Deputies' inclusion of ministerial discretion in applying the provisions to more products. I encourage the Minister to use that discretion liberally. There is scope in that regard to take meaningful action to tackle what is referred to as planned obsolescence - the Minister of State mentioned this earlier - where manufacturers design products with the intention that they would break or become obsolete in the short to medium term. It has been a problem for decades but has become particularly acute in the electronics industry.”
“If people knew what was repairable, what parts might be needed and how they would go about it, they would be more inclined to do so. This Bill also provides a good way of giving effect to some elements of a directive that was passed by the European Parliament last year on the so-called right to repair, something which my party has called for in the past. In 2022, the Labour Party put down an amendment to the Consumer Rights Bill that would have effectively introduced such a right on all electronics sold within the State. The amendment was rejected by the Government at the time, largely on the basis that the EU proposal was still pending. However, as it has now been adopted by the Parliament and Council, we would like to see the Government move in that regard. The provisions of this Bill should play a part in transposing the directive.”
“It is unsurprising in many ways because little is ever done to actually encourage people to make an effort to repair a product in the first instance, nor has there been much of an incentive to do so. I do think there is a lack of transparency on repairability of products and that certainly feeds into that tendency to get rid of them at the first sign of trouble. As I have said, this Bill provides a way of addressing that lack of transparency in a simple and practical way. The absence of much encouragement or the lack of information around the repairability of electrical products, among others, has led to a sort of culture of discarding, which simply is not compatible with a circular economy. This Bill provides redress for both of those elements, namely, encouragement and actual information.”
“Deputies Daly and Quinlivan’s Bill, in the idea behind it and what it seeks to achieve, deals with two really important aspects of that move towards a more circular economy and addressing the climate crisis more broadly, namely, transparency and sustainability. Tackling waste and addressing our tendency to discard and replace products at the first sign of a defect is probably the key element in bringing about that circular economy. The reality is that much of the waste that we produce need not be waste at all. Too often, viable goods or products are tossed, and replacement is prioritised over repair. The offshoot is that so many products needlessly end up in landfills or incinerators. I do not need to spell out the damage that does to our environment.”
“Our commitment to waste management and minimisation is rooted in our vision for a red-green future for Ireland, and our belief that the current economic model of endless growth at all costs is incompatible with addressing the climate crisis and creating a more sustainable economy. It is my belief that in order for us to secure our future and the future of our environment, we need to move towards an economic model which is not entirely predicated on continual consumption, but rather based on the principles of a circular economy and even doughnut economics. Obviously this will not happen overnight. It will be about radical but incremental and practical change.”
“I commend Deputies Pa Daly and Quinlivan on bringing forward this really excellent Bill. The Labour Party is glad to give it our support. We have a long history of advocating for better waste management and advocating for measures to reduce waste. Indeed, it is more than 20 years since we published our Waste Matters policy document in 2005, an alternative strategy on waste management to that of the Government of the day. It proposed radical and meaningful actions to improve the ways we deal with waste and build the appropriate infrastructure to do so. Many of those policy proposals have since been adopted, like waste segregation, investing in recycling plants, providing waste treatment facilities and so on.”
“While there is some place for these real-time updates to people, I would much prefer if the State were giving these updates in real time rather than relying on for-profit private companies that we cannot trust doing it.”
“I have concerns about people's personal data being shared with these anonymous and unaccountable third-party applications run by private companies. There is some merit in the RSA, itself, offering some service like this. There were similar issues with the online booking system for immigration permissions and visas in about 2016 and these issues were resolved successfully by the Department of Justice. Perhaps some lessons can be learned from that because it is clearly not an efficient use of resources if test slots go unfilled, especially given the current backlogs and waiting times. The last thing we want is a slot not being used because of a last-minute cancellation.”
“As it stands, the reality is that many people are forced to rely on private car use through no fault of their own and so it is imperative that these wait times are sorted out. Investment in the RSA to help it address this issue as well as the Government's plans for investment in new road infrastructure must be done in tandem with significant investment in public transport and active travel infrastructure and services. So that we are not so reliant on private car use, those options, those alternatives, need to be available to everyone. As the Minister of State alluded to, for-profit, third-party apps are popping up telling users when and where tests have been cancelled, effectively allowing them to skip the queue for online places but at a price. I welcome that the RSA is aware of this and is hopefully clamping down on it.”
“There are other knock-on effects, some that are particularly concerning like the impact on our paramedic services, the haulage sector and public transport provision. Ultimately from a transport-emissions perspective, we need to see public transport and active travel being the preferred and most accessible transport option for the majority of people, but regrettably we are not there yet. Issues remain over connectivity, accessibility and reliability of our public transport networks. Despite a very welcome increase in Local Link buses brought in by the last Government there is still a lack of public transport in some part parts of the country and this needs to be urgently addressed.”
“This constituent is one of the tens of thousands of adults stuck living at home with his parents. In his contact with my office, he was keen to stress that he did not usually get upset by things he could not control, such as the housing crisis, but the massive backlog in waiting times was really getting to him. This is not just about having a driver's licence for the sake of it. We are seeing people missing out on job opportunities and students dropping out of college because of the lack of decent public transport options. Much-needed apprentices, those who will be working and helping us to get out of the present housing crisis, need vehicles to get to and from jobs and to carry equipment. They are forced to either pause or drop out of their apprenticeships altogether because they cannot get driver licences.”
“One young constituent who got in touch with my office has a mother with Alzheimer's disease who is no longer able to drive. My constituent has not been able to help her because he is still waiting for a driving test. There is a financial impact for this young lad as well because having already spent a considerable amount of money on the mandatory 12 driving lessons, in circumstances where he has no one to accompany him in the car and while he is waiting so long for a driving test, he is spending more money getting a few supplementary lessons to make sure the rules of the road, etc., remain fresh in his head before he does his driving test in ten months' time. Another constituent was in touch to say that he had applied for a driving test in mid-April and had been given an estimated test date of 12 January 2026.”
“Even since we discussed this issue in late February, the national average waiting time has increased from 24 weeks to 27 and a half weeks, which does not bode particularly well. As we know, in some places, learner drivers have to wait far longer, including in Tallaght in my constituency. At the test centre there, waiting lists are the longest in the country, standing at a whopping 43 weeks. This means that about 18,500 people in Tallaght are waiting approximately ten months each for a test. This is just not good enough. This is having real, tangible knock-on effects for my constituents in Dublin South-West. I have been contacted by numerous people who are affected by the backlog and the wait times, as we all have been across the Dáil in our various constituencies.”
“The junior Minister told the RSA to review the plan and bring the date forward. I am certainly glad he is treating the issue with urgency now. I appreciate the clarity he has brought today stating that the waiting times will be brought down or that the aim is to bring them down to a ten-week target by September. Forgive me if I do not hold my breath on that. We heard from previous transport Ministers that this issue would be sorted by particular dates and then those targets were missed. We would then be given another date and that would also be missed. The first of these promises came in April 2023, when the then Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, said that wait times would be down to ten weeks by the end of quarter 1 of 2024. Two years later, however, matters have become much worse.”
“Reading back over the transcript of that debate, though, there was a noticeable absence of any sort of commitment from the Minister or his junior Ministers to implement any of the calls made in the motion. They were not calls asking the Ministers or the Government to move the sun, moon and stars. They were simply asking the Government to take responsibility and act to address the backlog and waiting times for driving tests. I am happy to be corrected if I am wrong, but the only squeak I have heard from the Department on this issue in the more than two months since that debate was a single press release entitled "Minister Canney instructs the Road Safety Authority to address Driver Testing delays". I hope he would do that. The Minister of State's press release referred to an RSA plan to bring wait times back to ten weeks by November next.”
“Before I begin, I take the opportunity to offer my heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Garda Kevin Flatley, as well as to his colleagues in An Garda Síochána. It is an unimaginable tragedy that his life would be taken as he was carrying out his duties in the interests of making our roads safer. Reading the tributes from those who knew him and worked with him, we really get a sense of what a thoroughly decent man he was. My thoughts are with all of those who loved him. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis. It is not that long ago that we were discussing this issue on foot of a constructive motion brought forward by Deputy Daly and Sinn Féin. It was a practical motion. It was reasonable and constructive and the Government did not oppose it, which was welcome.”
“In particular, if there is new State funding for schools, it should be on a nondenominational or multidenominational basis. Parents need to have that education provided for them. The Government is doing these parents and children an injustice by not providing access to the multidenominational education they want. What the Social Democrats are putting forward today is an opportunity for the Government to right the wrong, correct the exclusion of multidenominational education from the programme for Government and acknowledge this is what parents and families want for the education of their children.”
“It highlights that the programme for Government in the last Dáil contained a target of at least 400 multidenominational primary schools by 2030 to improve parental choice, yet the current programme for Government contains no target for multidenominational schools. It appears that the previous Government’s commitment to multidenominational schools and parental choice in education has been written out of the new programme for Government. It is also important to acknowledge and highlight that with new housing developments and the planning for that, in particular in the national planning framework, there is a need for schools to be developed alongside housing. It is a major issue that where we have housing development, we are not seeing schools being invested in and provided for along with that.”
“It is a wonderful school, with dedicated staff, yet they are stuck in unsuitable temporary facilities and need a new school building. In the wider area, there are three primary schools, the North Dublin National School Project in my own constituency and Grace Park and Glasnevin Educate Together national schools. Parents from all over Dublin North-West send their children to these primary schools yet they have only one option for a secondary school, Clonturk Community College, which I mentioned. The barriers to accessing multidenominational education are numerous and real. This motion is about changing that.”
“I thank Deputy Cummins for her work on this motion and I also thank the Minister for being present and engaging with the debate. This is a very important motion. Some 60% of Irish parents have expressed a preference for multidenominational schools and it is broadly acknowledged as the way forward in education. When we consider the level of oversubscription for Educate Together schools, the demand for this education is undeniable. These parents have a right to choose an education for their children that aligns with their values. In my own constituency of Dublin North-West, there is just one Educate Together secondary school, Clonturk Community College. My son attended that school. I remember queueing up to try to get a place in the school and remember that some parents had to queue overnight to get a place.”
“It may well be the case that the Government has no intention of introducing water charges, which we would welcome, or of privatising water resources and infrastructure, as we have heard, but there is sufficient doubt and scepticism about that. The introduction of domestic water charges is pointing the finger in the wrong direction. The elephant in the room is data centres and other large commercial businesses that put serious pressure on water security. That is where we must look if we are ever to apply something along the lines of a polluter pays principle.”
“A large part of the concern around the introduction of water charges was that it would lead to the privatisation of water services. That was never the intention of the Labour Party when we held the relevant brief, but there is public concern in that regard and we acknowledge it. The obvious solution to putting these concerns and the issue to bed is to hold a referendum to enshrine water resources and infrastructure in public ownership. In 2016, the Labour Party introduced a Bill to the Dáil to give effect to that, as well as to ensure gas and electricity transmission and distribution networks remain in public ownership. That remains our position. I urge the Government to seriously consider such a referendum.”
“The small number of household consumers who use excess amounts of water surely pales in comparison to data centres or other high-consuming commercial enterprises like large-scale industrial farming or pharma. In order to address wastewater and improve water conservation, we must sort out the pipe network. It is a genuine outrage that nearly 40% of water is lost through leakages before it ever reaches a tap. I accept that some progress has been made in recent years on bringing that number down. There are complicating factors, but progress has been slow. We must urgently ramp up investment on the delivery of an improved water infrastructure network. As I suggested, perhaps an additional levy on high-consuming commercial enterprises might form part of the funding model. I will conclude by returning to the main crux of this motion.”
“That number increases to 67% of water resources in winter conditions and 79% in drought conditions. What I am trying to get at here is that data centres are taking huge amounts of water out of a system that is not only facing serious threats as a result of climate change, but is also struggling currently to provide sufficient reliability. It is in that context that we need to be looking at some sort of additional levy on the high-use consumers, based on the polluter pays principle. This should go beyond some punitive measure on ordinary people and actually contribute to further investment in our network of pipes, investment that is desperately needed.”
“We are all aware of the growing demand for energy in data centres as well, of course. There are two salient points here. The first is that all of our climate action plans have been quite clear about the potential threat posed to our water supply and water quality. Climate Action Plan 2021 was perhaps the most explicit in this regard. It suggested that climate change will likely result in: Increased water demand as a result of the increased frequency of heatwaves, leading to further strain on water transmission and distribution networks, as well as on supply (abstraction and storage). The second point is that Uisce Éireann's national water resources plan notes that nearly 60% of our water resource zones are in deficit and cannot provide reliability to customers in normal circumstances.”
“Granted, it could be returned to treatment facilities, but as far as I am aware, there is no cost associated with that waste water and the additional pressure it adds to treatment facilities. The upshot of that additional pressure is that in cases where the treatment plants do not have sufficient capacity, untreated or partially treated water is released into local water bodies. It is a similar case for Google, where around 27% of the water taken in by its data centres globally was discharged as effluent. In its 2024 environmental impact report, Google stated that its Dublin data centre withdrew 2.7 million l of water, and in Google data centres globally, water use increased by 17% on the previous year. The company has stated publicly that the expansion of Al will lead to more demand for data centres, and therefore, more demand for water.”
“I am already on the record regarding my opposition to this Government green-lighting more data centres, due to their enormous consumption of energy, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions they produce and the pressure they put on our energy grid. We also need to talk about the huge amounts of water it takes to run them. l am conscious that, like all non-domestic users, data centres are required to pay for the water they use. Given the sheer scale of that usage and the run-off effects in terms of waste water generated and the increasing pressure put on the system by growing demand in this area, I think there is scope for additional levies to be imposed. Let us take the waste water which data centres generate as an example. Of the water consumed globally by Microsoft data centres in 2021, 41% of it went to waste.”
“I imagine the amount that would be raised would be little more than minuscule anyway, and it would be far, far short of what is actually required in terms of investment in our water infrastructure. If this does come to pass, it would be a punitive measure designed to curb excess water use, which I am sympathetic to as a goal. However, if we are looking seriously at conserving water and protecting our supply, the finger is being pointed possibly in the wrong direction. Average water use is 40% below the threshold where these charges would kick in, which tells me that domestic use is not really the issue. Instead, if we are going to levy water charges, we should be levying them where we know that there is a massive level of consumption.”
“Under the plan published by Uisce Éireann, every household in Ireland would have a 213,000 l allowance and any usage above that, subject to certain exceptions, would face a charge. The average household use is 125,000 l, or approximately 40% below the limit. I find it difficult to believe, based on the figures, that excess use among households is such a widespread issue that domestic charges would ever need to be introduced. Obviously, there will be some people who are wasteful with water but, by and large, I think people are generally conscious of how much they use and do their best to keep their usage to roughly what they actually need. This cannot possibly be a revenue-raising measure.”
“Despite what the Minister says, it appears that there are whisperings that it is not a settled position for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. It is understandable that recent reports that Uisce Éireann would be introducing excess-use charges would raise alarm bells. It is an emotive issue for many people, as we in the Labour Party know all too well. As environment spokesperson for the Labour Party, I am of course sympathetic to the argument that we need to curb excess water usage or the amount of water that goes to waste. Water is a precious and finite resource, and from an environmental and climate change perspective, it is important that we protect our water and our water supply. As climate change progresses and accelerates, it will become an increasingly scarce resource, so we cannot treat it like some abundant commodity.”
“We took a position, we made an argument and we lost that argument - we accept that. As far as we are concerned, it is a settled issue.”
“I thank Deputies McDonald and Ó Broin for bringing this Bill, which the Labour Party will be supporting, to the House. We opposed the Water Services Act 2017 when it was introduced. To quote my former party colleague, Jan O’Sullivan, it was "a complete fudge between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael". It is incredible to me that we are still talking about water charges in 2025. They were put on the table in 2010 by Fianna Fáil in its agreement with the troika after it bulldozed the economy. The issue was then taken up by Fine Gael and the buck was passed to my own party. I will not try to absolve us of our role in that matter. Obviously, we have been on a journey with water charges. We have paid a price for it politically and on a personal level for some of our public representatives.”
“We have schools that are opening additional special classes, which is fantastic, but with the number of students with additional needs increasing, the wraparound supports for those special classes and the therapies the students need have to increase as well.”
“As the Taoiseach knows, today is World Autism Awareness Day. I ask about the supports and therapies that are available for children with additional needs in my constituency of Dublin South-West. As the Taoiseach knows, we are all being contacted constantly by parents at their wits' end who are seeking crucial and urgent interventions for their children, be it speech and language therapy, occupational therapy or psychology. Waiting lists for assessments of need are in their thousands and even waiting for a follow-up services statement and getting access to the therapies can take years. In the Ballyboden primary care centre in my constituency, we have gone from five speech and language therapists in 2022 to one part-timer. Our local CDNT is struggling to get staff. It is competing with the HSE for staff because it is a section 39 agency.”
“We cannot afford to wait for the next storm to remind us of the fragility of our systems. We must also harness the power of our community. Neighbours helping neighbours, local organisations stepping up to provide assistance and individuals coming together to support one another - this is the spirit that defines us as Irish people. Let us channel that spirit into action, advocating for change and ensuring that our voices are heard loud and clear. We must not let a tide of inaction wash away promises and commitments made after every major weather event. Ultimately, households, small businesses and farmers around the country are struggling now as a result of Storm Éowyn. They need clarity and support, and I urge the Government to heed this motion and act on it urgently.”
“Do we stand for a Government that operates in a vacuum, detached from the reality of what is happening around it - just ask its backbenchers; we heard them today - or do we stand for a Government that listens, responds with compassion and urgency and puts the welfare of its people at the forefront? The answer should be obvious. In the face of adversity, we must act swiftly together. We must demand accountability and insist that immediate action be taken when required. We need to build up our climate mitigation and resilience urgently. We must call for a comprehensive recovery plan that encompasses all affected sectors - homeowners, businesses, and farmers alike. This plan must not only address the immediate needs but also lay the groundwork for long-term resilience.”
“Besides the obvious benefits in respect of transport emission reductions in areas that have transport poverty and are not served well by public transport, it was noted by Professor Hannah Daly of UCC that many people discovered the vehicle-to-load function on EV cars, which meant they could draw electricity from their EV's battery to power their household essentials like lighting, fridges, medical devices and so forth for up to a week, in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn. There are solutions out there. Let us be clear: this is not merely a question of resources but a question of values. As a society, we must ask ourselves what we stand for.”
“Many households went weeks without energy, partly due to the fact they were in particularly remote areas or were one-off homes, meaning it was more difficult and time-consuming for the ESB to restore power to these individual homes. Some got through it using home batteries powered by solar panels. That should be a lesson to us and part of a roadmap for the future. We should be looking at targeted investment and grants for legacy one-off households and businesses that are particularly vulnerable to power outages to make solar panels and batteries more accessible to offer that extra level of protection. We should also be targeting grants for EVs to rural areas.”
“We need to build up our resilience because Storm Éowyn has clearly shown we are nowhere near prepared to deal with what is to come, and that means several things. It means having a robust and properly functioning standing programme of supports for households, communities and small businesses in the form of financial and infrastructural supports, services and so on. As this motion alludes to, the humanitarian assistance scheme is ad hoc , inadequate and too narrow in its provisions. It means investment in climate mitigation infrastructure such as flood defences, as well as dealing with issues around insurance for households and businesses where they cannot get flood insurance despite being in at-risk areas. Crucially, it means investing in our renewable and sustainable energy infrastructure as well.”
“We have seen devastation arrive in every part of the country in recent times and it is only going one way. It is only going to get worse. On the east coast, in Wexford alone, we have seen snowstorms wreaking havoc. There is flooding almost annually in Enniscorthy as they await Government intervention on a long-promised flood relief scheme. We have seen flash flooding in New Ross and a tornado wreaking unbelievable havoc in Clongeen and Foulksmills. Storm Éowyn brought serious damage to communities all over the country. Notwithstanding the fact a life was lost, and we send our deepest sympathies to the family of Kacper Dudek, the damage done by extreme weather events will be multiple times worse in the future as climate change accelerates. More communities will be devastated, more business facing closure and more lives lost.”
“In fact, it already has come, because the climate crisis has very much arrived. Ask the people of Valencia, Los Angeles and Pakistan. The floods and the fires experienced in those places were not freak weather events; they are the climate crisis in action. While we here in Ireland, thankfully, have not yet experienced that level of devastation, it is coming, and we have had our warning signs. Storm Éowyn was a warning sign. Storm Darragh, at the end of last year, was a warning sign, as were Storm Ellen, the beast from the east in 2018 and Storm Ophelia in 2017. They were all warning signs and we need to get our house in order. I listened this afternoon to many Government backbenchers decry that many of their constituents still remain without broadband. No part of this island has been or will be immune to the arrival of serious storms.”
“We turn to our farmers, whose dedication to their land and livestock is unmatched. They work tirelessly to put food on our tables, yet they are often the first to feel the impact of natural disasters. Storm Éowyn has wreaked havoc on many of them, and the repercussions will be felt for years to come. Our farmers need immediate assistance after a storm batters them and their livelihood, not just in the form of financial aid but also in the form of resources and support to help them rebuild their farms. We must rally behind them, for when farmers thrive, our entire nation thrives. I now want to focus, in the rest of my remarks, on what was really laid bare by Storm Éowyn and this Government's response to it, namely, how ill-prepared we are for what is to come in terms of the climate crisis.”
“Many over the years have lost their homes or suffered extensive damage from storms and yet the support they receive has been slow and insufficient. It is unacceptable that in the wake of such tragedies, we find ourselves again and again listening to stories of people navigating a labyrinth of bureaucracy while they endure the effects of the various natural disasters that have arrived on their doorsteps. Where is the sense of urgency? Where is the compassion that should guide us as leaders in times of crisis? The business sector, which drives our economy and creates jobs, has also been hit hard. Local shops, restaurants and services are struggling to stay afloat, with many forced to close their doors for good. We need a clear roadmap for recovery that prioritises our small businesses and fosters an environment where they can thrive again.”