Paul Murphy: Accuses Government of Failing to Meet Climate Targets
Paul Murphy addressed the Dáil to accuse the Taoiseach and the government of failing to meet legally binding climate targets and of prioritising corporate interests over public needs. He criticised the Strategic Gas Emergency Reserve Bill for entrenching reliance on LNG and called for honesty with citizens about the climate crisis.
Government failing on climate
Paul Murphy challenged the Taoiseach directly, saying that despite government assurances the climate targets were legally binding, the minister admitted in January that the targets will not be met. He argued this gap between international posturing at COP and domestic inaction is stark and amounts to a failure to tell the public the truth about rising temperatures and the urgency of the crisis.
Strategic Gas Emergency Reserve Bill criticism
Murphy said the Strategic Gas Emergency Reserve Bill would entrench reliance on the dirtiest fossil fuel - LNG - and accused the government of watering down the Climate Act by allowing compliance only "to the extent that they consider practicable." He framed the Bill as evidence the government is bowing to big tech and the fossil fuel industry and putting corporate interests ahead of people and planet.
COP attendance contrasted with domestic policy
Murphy contrasted attendance at COP in Brazil with the lack of measures at home, arguing international appearances do not match policy on the ground. He warned that temperatures are rising and the clock is ticking, and called on the government to reverse course and be honest about the scale of the challenge.
Security and interconnection defence from Taoiseach
In response, the Taoiseach defended the emergency LNG reserve as a security measure, citing vulnerability of interconnectors and external threats to energy supply. The Taoiseach also pointed to reductions in emissions alongside population and economic growth as evidence of progress, and insisted action on reserve capacity was an obligation to jobs, the economy and society.
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Taoiseach, for years and years we've been told that the government's climate targets are legally binding and the implication was that therefore heaven and earth would be moved in order to meet those targets. Then in January we heard from the Minister, Dara O'Brien, that you're not going to meet the targets and didn't announce any measures or any plan to announce any measures to actually close the gap and meet those targets. I mean the contrast between what you went to Brazil, COP30 and said and then the reality of what your government is doing on the ground couldn't be more stark. Temperatures are rising, the clock is ticking, if we're not prepared to tell our citizens the truth about this we are failing them and this planet in the most profound way. T-shirt, do you accept that your government is failing the people of this country in the most profound way? By your bowing down to big tech corporations, fossil fuel industry and putting their interests before the needs of our people. It's encapsulated by the Strategic Gas Emergency Reserve Bill which is going to entrench reliance on the dirtiest fossil fuel on the earth, dirtier than coal. You're watering down the commitments of the Climate Act. In the Bill is to say that they should obey this Act, quote, to the extent that they consider practicable. So, reverse course on this, T-shirt. Deputy, you're all done, we are. Deputy Murphy, I would disagree fundamentally with you in terms of, I don't think there's a huge disparity or contrast between what we have said in COP. It's very important that we went to Bailon, because another country didn't go at all. But Ireland felt if there was any time we should go and attend COP, it was this year, or last year, sorry, to make sure that the momentum and critical mass is maintained internationally and globally. The emergency reserve capacity for LNG is a security issue. And I think it's wrong of you to say that it flies in the face of the climate change agenda. We simply have to have security. If anything was to happen, the gas interconnectors or economy wouldn't sustain a week or two. I don't know whether you believe that or not, or whether you believe they're India. Look, I know you're... You're not going to build interconnection just like that. We have interconnection. But there's a problem with interconnection. There are threats to it. And guess who has a threat to it? Russia. I know you don't probably believe that. There's a naivety in your approach to Russia. You always see the US as the aggressor. I know I won't go into that, but there is an issue there. We've been warned about it. We have to act on that warning. We have an obligation to people, to jobs, to the economy, to society, to heed that. And that's why that's going ahead. And also in terms of... You know, we've made a lot of progress. I mean, the population has increased by 50%. And we've grown our economy very substantially over the last two or three decades. And our emissions are coming down. So we have successfully proven that you can decouple economic growth from China and also the population growth. It's quite a remarkable... Even though people are giving out that we may not reach our target, it's quite a remarkable sort of achievement in many respects. Because we're one of the few countries that's growing exponentially in population relative to where we were. And that's just really... I'm going to go back to the high level of the population. We're going to go back to the high level of the population. And then we're going to go back to the примерно half a half. And I've done that one, so I wonder if I can't face it. I'm going to go back to the right level.
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