As the Minister of State knows, housing is the number one social crisis currently affecting the State and the cost-of-living crisis is the most immediate economic challenge. However, climate change represents an existential challenge, not just in this country but across the entire planet. We can see every single day the impacts in urban and rural Ireland as well as elsewhere in the world of the failure of governments, particularly those in wealthy countries, to meet their emissions reductions targets. As others have said before, this Government is on course to miss its targets. They are not just legally binding targets; they are scientifically established targets for emissions reductions to deal with the threat of climate change. To make matters worse, the Government is pursuing a policy that is heaping the majority of the cost of emissions reductions on families, workers, and small and medium-sized businesses. That is imposing enormous pain, particularly at a time of a cost-of-living crisis. Then, of course, there are others in this House and outside it who want to minimise, if not outright deny, the fact that climate change is real. They want to simply continue as things are. The consequence of Government failure and climate denial by others is that public confidence in meaningful climate action is being undermined. The solution, of course, and what people are calling for, is the just transition outlined by my colleagues and others. That is front-loading investment in critical renewable energy, in public transport and in a retrofit programme that meets people's needs, not one based on their ability to pay, and prioritises energy for households, employers and workers, not data centres. There is a relationship between this and the protests that have taken place across the State in recent times. While they are primarily about the failure of the Government to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, they are being exacerbated by its climate policies: overdependence on fossil fuels, failure to provide adequate green transport infrastructure or public transport infrastructure, and just not listening to communities. Aidan Regan, a political economist from UCD, made a very interesting observation recently. He said governments here and elsewhere are faced with a trilemma in that they are trying to reconcile three irreconcilables: a model of economic growth that is deeply unfair and unsustainable, and a climate policy focused on carbon taxes and pricing, heaping the burden on workers and families, all the while undermining public confidence in democracy. He makes an appeal for a change and for progressive politicians to build an alternative alliance, one that focuses climate mitigation costs on the very wealthy corporations and individuals, provides a just green transition for workers and families and restores proper democracy. That is the solution to this crisis.

Sentiment score: -0.12