Bríd Smith: Calls planning Bill 'developer-led' and warns on LNG

Just to comment on what has been said there, and I will not repeat the adjectives he used, but I think the Deputy will find in his objections to this Bill that Aontuasga are probably some of his best friends. They have said and warned that the Bill is part of a growing European and British trend, intentionally rolling back on democratic legal norms. Minister, I would like to ask you, and maybe you could say this in your response, did the Attorney General Rousseff-Fanning privately tell the Government that this Bill gave the appearance of being led by developers? If he did, I think he should say that to the House, because for many of us it looks like a developer-led Bill, the third largest Bill in the history of the State, and being rushed through tonight. It is extraordinary and it is disgraceful. Powers are being given that are centralised, given to Government and Ministers to make variations to development plans that, as has been said, are put together by local authority, the democratically elected councillors, and those local development plans, progressive moves in them can be blocked, initiatives in them, in each local development plan can be blocked by government and or a minister. Some of this Bill's harshest critics are not exactly your eco-warriors or your tree-huggers, as they are often denigrated and called, but they are people like the Law Society of Ireland, the Bar Association, the United Nations, Our House Compliance Committee, the Irish Planning Institute. I want to just say that this Bill now includes last-minute amendments that we probably won't get to because of the guillotine on it, but these amendments are absolutely disgraceful and have passed this evening. It will mean that LNG planning applications will be passed through the planning process. It does say everything about the Green Party and Government with yourselves and Fine Gael over the last four years, if this Government ends with them trying to ram through laws to enable new fossil fuel infrastructure, which flows from the Government's Energy Review last November. That review made clear that the Government's main concern is to ensure an even greater energy supply for continued unlimited growth of energy-hungry data centres, and essentially their needs are being prioritised over the more important goals we should have of decarbonisation and reducing our energy usage. So, in all of that, I just want to mention that in 2021 we put a Bill, I introduced it before the House, the Planning and Development Climate Emergency Measures Act, an amendment to the Bill in 2021, and all of the Green Deputies voted against it. All of them said that it was a distraction and that LNGs would never be introduced. Even at this late stage, we would call on the Green Party to change the course and to vote against this entire Bill. Even if it comes to triggering a general election, which everybody knows is around the corner anyway, they should let the people decide on something that is crucial for our future and make it an election issue. The years of greenwashing, the years of ramming through fancy ads and trying to convince us that LNGs would not be brought in are now coming to an end. Research published last week in the Science and Energy Journal shows us that LNG energy is much, much worse than coal, because it traps heat in the atmosphere 80 times more than carbon dioxide. If it does that, it is no wonder that we are witnessing the worst hurricanes on record in America, the worst floods on record across Europe and indeed the worst and hottest days ever. So I just want to finish my meagre contribution by quoting from an article that was published in The Ditch, which I know your party loves. It was written by a very eminent environmentalist, Sinead Mercier. Despite all the climate pronouncements, expensive ad campaigns and new climate legislation, the Government is setting in train the largest amount of high-carbon infrastructure ever built in the history of the State. This bill exposes an unpleasant State philosophy. As Ireland can no longer fully rely on its low tax rate to attract international finance, it has intensified an existing parallel strategy offering up the country's infrastructure and landscape for global value extraction. If disagreement over a bank bailout is worth collapsing a government over, surely the same standards apply to bailing out the fossil fuel industry. This government in its final days with an election inament, there is little to be lost and all to be gained from blocking this intolerable legislation. Thank you very much for11 but it is important in that centralisation. The 00 h? This is a grant of previous state, josiah? Again, eh, titles. 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