This motion has some very positive aspects. It is important to highlight the issue of flooding and its impacts on people across this country. It has impacted people in so many different ways and our hearts go out to all those who are dealing with the fallout from it. While we cannot predict whether it is going to rain tomorrow or the next day what we do know is that climate change is happening right now. We also know that we can prevent further changes in climate change. We also know we lack infrastructure investment in this country. In regard to infrastructure, this Government acts as if literally it was the weather to blame for the flooding and the failures. Let us be straight and honest. The Government’s Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan highlights that Ireland’s infrastructure gap has consistently for decades been about 25% below the European average. This is not a problem that emerged overnight. This comes from a failure of successive Governments led by Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael and the Irish State to actually take a social democratic approach to investment in public services, public infrastructure and, in particular, in local government. Local government has been treated like an afterthought. Its capacity has been gutted. For 40 years we have had broadly neoliberal policies which have essentially outsourced the key responsibilities of local government and not invested in our public capacity and we wonder why we have floods, major traffic problems, lack of investment in our healthcare and homelessness. It is because of policy that has not prioritised public services. Climate change is happening. It is absolutely astounding to me that it is like the Government has turned around and done a Trump on it, saying, "We are now ignoring the science. We actually do not even care about it." The all-party Oireachtas committee has identified 30 barriers to the Government meeting its targets. The Government has effectively accepted we will not meet our targets and it is almost celebrating it. I cannot get my head around this. It is jeopardising the lives of future generations and quality of life and for what? Is it to make concessions to independents? Is it to be seen as anti-green? It is so narrow, short term and populist in the worst form. We are heading towards climate catastrophe and this Government is ripping up the targets and has no intention whatever to getting near to meeting them so as to be seen as being politically populist and standing up for whoever it is saying is being left behind. All you are going to see is worsening flooding and worsening weather. We need proper investment in our infrastructure, to accept the science and to meet our climate targets. Unfortunately, the people in this country are going to lose because of the Government’s shortsightedness, its political populism and its failure to take a social democratic approach which recognises the state has to invest in delivering infrastructure on a very significant level beyond what we are doing right now.

Sentiment score: -0.03