Eoin Ó Broin: Government Failing on Climate and Fairness
Eoin Ó Broin addresses the Dáil on the intersection of housing, cost of living and climate change, arguing the government is on course to miss legally binding emissions targets and is shifting the burden onto families and small businesses. He calls for a just transition that prioritises renewables, public transport and a retrofit programme that meets people's needs.
Government failure on targets
Eoin Ó Broin criticises the government for failing to meet scientifically established emissions reductions targets and for pursuing a policy mix that places the heaviest costs on workers, families and small and medium-sized businesses. He warns this approach undermines public confidence in meaningful climate action.
Burden on families and workers
Ó Broin details how current climate measures are compounding the cost-of-living crisis, arguing that carbon pricing and other policies are effectively heaping costs onto those least able to pay. He stresses the need to prioritise energy for households and employers, rather than data centres.
A just transition outlined
He presents the just transition proposed by his colleagues: front-loading investment in renewable energy, expanded public transport and a retrofit programme based on need, not ability to pay. This, he says, is the alternative to leaving costs with ordinary people.
Protests, democracy and an alternative alliance
Ó Broin links recent protests to government failure on both cost-of-living and climate policy, and cites Aidan Regan's argument that governments face a trilemma between an unfair growth model, regressive carbon pricing and eroding public trust. He urges progressive politicians to build an alliance that shifts mitigation costs onto corporations and the wealthy and restores democratic confidence.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
Minister, as you know, housing is the number one social crisis currently affecting this state and the cost of living crisis is the most immediate economic challenge. But climate change represents an existential challenge not just to this country but to 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 governments in wealthy countries, to meet their emissions reductions targets. And as we said by others before, this government is on course to miss its targets. And they're not just legally binding targets, they are scientifically established targets for emissions reductions to deal with the threat of climate change. And to make matters worse, you're pursuing a policy that's heaping the majority of the cost of emissions reduction on families, on workers, and small and medium-sized businesses. And that is imposing enormous pain, particularly at a time of a cost-living crisis. And then of course there are others in this house and others outside this house who want to minimise, if not outright deny, the fact that climate change is real. They want to simply continue as things are. And the consequence of government failure and climate denial by others is 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's front-loading investment in critical renewable energy, in public transport, in a retrofit programme that actually meets people's needs, not based on their ability to pay, and prioritises energy for households and employers and workers, not data centres. And there is a relationship between this and the protests that have taken place across the state in recent times. While they're primarily about the failure of government to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, they are being exacerbated by your climate policies, over-dependence 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, has made a very interesting observation recently where he talks about government here and elsewhere is faced with a trilemma. They're trying to reconcile three irreconcilables. A model of economic growth that is deeply unfair and unsustainable, a climate policy focused on carbon taxes and pricing, heaping the burden on workers and families, and all the while undermining public confidence in democracy. And he makes an appeal for a change, 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's the solution to this crisis.
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
