On Friday we debated the Energy Security and Climate Change Bill 2012. This bill was brought forward by Deputy Catherine Murphy under the Government’s new reforms and was taken as part of the Friday Sitting schedule.

“We must be smarter about energy in this country with regard to what we use and how we use it. Fighting to protect the environment, improve it and make our presence in it more sustainable has value, and while it is an end in itself it is also fundamental to many other aspects of our lives including reducing waste, reducing costs, becoming more efficient, improving our health and happiness and achieving food and water security which is crucial and will become more important in the coming decades. It is also important for increasing investment in our economy and job creation: if Dublin is to be a great capital it must be a green capital and we need to recognise this.

We should be pursuing this agenda for selfish reasons as well as for the greater good.”

Read my full speech here.

Click here watch a video of my contribution.