I will pick up on what my colleague, Deputy Ahern, was speaking about. We are living in an era in which shock events are becoming more regular due to irrational, unpredictable and, quite frankly, dangerous leadership among the big powers. The world's reliance on fossil fuels has become the source of global conflict. The ultimate impact of this is not only that it causes deaths in those regions where the wars are taking place, but also that it has an economic shock on ordinary workers and ordinary households elsewhere in the world. In this country, we have reacted to the Russia-Ukraine war, to this current conflict and to the Covid crisis by introducing a suite or basket of emergency measures which are then subject to debate, controversy and discussion across this House. There are commonalities emerging in these shock events in terms of how they impact our people and communities. We need to prepare for these events better. We are still overly reliant on fossil fuels, so we are going to have to be able to react quicker to these events. We do not need new legislation to facilitate a maximum price order, for example, because it is something that the Government, along with a price freeze at the fuel pump, can implement overnight with the stroke of a pen. That can be done based on current legislation, without introducing new legislation, when America, Russia or another power starts a war or escalates continuing conflicts. The Minister's Government has not chosen to do this. Three and a half weeks later, as my colleagues Deputy Ahern and Deputy Nash and the Opposition more generally have said, a suite of measures is being brought in which, quite frankly, does not go far enough. We are not preparing. We know that work practices in this country are over-reliant on fossil fuels. Too many people have to get into their cars in the morning to go to work because we have not invested enough in public transport. There are improvements and exciting projects on the way, including DART+ and MetroLink in my constituency, but there are still too many people getting into their cars in the morning who do not have to do so. They could stay at home and work productively, efficiently, effectively and happily in the public or private sector. We need to look at the rules in this State. Obviously, we have proposed legislation that would empower people to work from home and give them real rights and protections. Given that the Government seems intent on not supporting that legislation, when shock events happen the Government should impose work from home orders to enable people who can work from home to do so at a moment's notice without fear of repercussions from their bosses. The suite of measures that are being announced in other European countries, such as Spain, Greece and the UK, go further and deeper. They have reacted a little more quickly than we have. Nobody is perfect and no government or State is reacting perfectly to these shock events, but we have to adapt our responses to the reality of the world as it exists now. There are many articles about a show currently on Netflix that is set in the 1990s that are about how it seems like a much calmer time. Compared to where we are now, it was like another world. We are now in the 2020s, when fossil fuels are being fought over. We have a klepto-fascist in the White House who is engaging in what seems to be, among his many crimes, the manipulation of the markets for profit and the use of the office of the United States President for personal and familial gain. We are in a territory we never thought we would be in, but I think we are still playing by 1990s rules, almost. We are not adapting and we are not flexible, despite all these shock events, conflicts and wars. Despite all the things that are becoming more familiar, and the impact they are having on home heating oil, fuel pumps, congestion and climate, we are still reacting as if it was 30 years ago and not as if it is the 2020s. We need to look at how we are shaping our State to react to the actions of the disastrous leaders of the most powerful states who are tearing the world apart at present.
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