Climate change “not a priority” for government, says Hayes

Social Democrats TD Eoin Hayes has said that climate change is “not a priority” for the government.

After Europe was in the throes of a heatwave – that researchers say would be impossible without human-made climate change – the Dublin Bay South TD said that tackling climate change was not on the government’s agenda.

Members of the opposition united against the construction of an LNG terminal, which aims to bring more gas into the Irish system.

The government, looking to secure more Irish natural gas, are gambling on gas to solve the energy crisis which has hit Irish households, but is not investing in wind or solar.

Hayes said the government’s choosing fossil fuels over renewable energy is a “huge admission of failure” and a “huge problem.”

He said that the government legislation is an “admission of failure on energy policy and energy security; it is an admission of failure of several governments’ inability to plan properly for energy in Ireland.”

“I expect the Minister might be at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the LNG terminal when it is commissioned, which might be in 2030, when we are trying to hit climate targets. This is a huge step backwards,” he said.

Hayes noted, “when I was born in October 1987, the number of parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 346; it is now 431. We are going in the absolute opposite direction.”

The Dublin Bay South TD told the Dáil “they say one definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again. We have seen what gas prices have done to our economy and what the reliance on fossil fuels has done to our economy, first with the invasion of Ukraine and second with the war in Iran, yet we are going to say we want more gas.”

“Is that the answer here? Is that what the government’s policy is here? I absolutely appreciate there is an energy security issue, but why would the first Bill we bring forward under climate or critical infrastructure not be on renewables rather than fossil fuels? It does not make any sense,” he said.

Under EU legislation, Ireland must hit its climate goals by 2030 or face billions in fines.

Hayes questioned if the government were taking the issue of climate change seriously at all, noting that very few off-shore wind farms have been built by various Irish governments

“The government is trying to hit climate goals by 2030 and get to net zero by 2050. This terminal will be operational by 2050, if the government goes ahead with it. Of course it will. Why would it not be? The Government is giving no rationale as to how it will hit these climate goals by 2030. In fact, it has already admitted failure, and we are four years out from it,” Hayes said.

The Social Democrats TD predicted that the government is “going to continue to do the same thing it has always done, which is to rely on fossil fuels, which will not bring us energy security and will not allow us to fulfil our climate goals or live up to the promise of climate action and its great opportunities.”

“If we continue with this, it is going to be absolutely devastating,” he said.

Soc Dems environmental spokesperson Jennifer Whitmore “this abject failure to properly plan is not confined to the government; state agencies are also culpable.”

The Wicklow TD cited an announcement from the ESB that it was unable to manage the use all of its public EV chargers at the same time, while it now costs more to charge a car at public charging stations than to fill a car with petrol and diesel. 

“This is a farce – but nothing about it is funny. We seem incapable in this country of even doing the basics, the bare minimum, when it comes to helping the public to make climate transitions that they are willing and eager to make,” she said.