The programme for Government commits to intensifying the transition to lower cost renewables and electricity generation and to transitioning away from imported fossil fuels. We can see just how expensive fossil fuels can be since the illegal US war on Iran, just how dependent we are on them and how vulnerable that makes us to price shocks. Successive Governments have been too slow to move away from expensive, imported fossil fuels and worse still, are now reversing the existing policy. The Government must expedite investment in our renewable energy infrastructure to insulate us from the worst impacts of the turmoil of a world oil supply shock. In the long run, the only way to prepare for future energy shocks is to invest substantially in our energy infrastructure. Offshore wind and wave power should be the priority and funds from the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund should be used for that. The energy crisis and climate change disproportionately impact the most marginalised. Efforts to address climate change, like carbon tax, the cost of retrofitting and electric cars, also affect PAYE workers, one-parent families, carers, the disabled and older people the most. A total of 29% of households are in energy poverty, 300,000 families are in arrears with their electricity bills and 180,000 are in arrears with gas bills. As a result, the just transition measures are absolutely vital. Low-cost, even free, public transport is a key issue in climate policy, particularly in constituencies like Tipperary South where public transport is limited, to say the least. If you work in south Tipperary in somewhere like Clonmel and work in any of the local industries like Abbott; Boston Scientific; Merck, Sharp and Dohme; Medite of Europe; Tipperary County Council; or Tipperary University Hospital, you must drive to work. Low-cost or free public transport must be put in place. The town bus service in Clonmel has been an outstanding success and this service should be rolled out to other areas in the town, like Old Bridge, Powerstown, Redmondstown and Clerihan. Crucially, it should be extended to other towns in the county, like Carrick-on-Suir, Cahir, Cashel, Tipperary town and Fethard. This would be hugely advantageous from a climate point of view and also from a societal point of view. The Government will fail dismally to meet the retrofitting targets of 500,000 home retrofits and 400,000 heat pumps by 2030. These schemes must be ramped up considerably and delays under the warmer home scheme - a very good scheme - are unacceptable. Two years is not simply good enough. The retrofitting of local authority houses must also be put in place. It is currently moving at a snail's pace and is almost non-existent. The projected budget surplus of an additional €4 billion must be used to do that.

Sentiment score: 0.04