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We have less than eight years to radically reduce our emissions and the lack of a tangible strategy is deeply worrying The Government’s emissions reduction plan must assist all farmers – not just the big players, says Social Democrats Agriculture spokesperson Holly Cairns. “The Government’s climate action plans must support small family farms in a […]

The Government is clearly not prepared to make the tough decisions required to deal with climate change The agreement of a 25% reduction in carbon emissions for the agricultural sector represents a shocking failure by Government to listen to the science, according to Social Democrats Climate Spokesperson Jennifer Whitmore. “The decision to put in place […]

The Government must develop a proper just transition plan for farmers to help them reach their climate targets The Government must ensure there is a just transition and a fair deal for farmers as they face the emission challenges ahead, according to Social Democrats Climate Spokesperson Jennifer Whitmore. “Farmers will play a major role in […]

It’s no wonder farmers are afraid of what this will mean for their families and their businesses – the Government is failing to be honest with them The failure of the Government to come to a decision on sectoral emissions ceilings is doing farming families a disservice, according to Social Democrats Climate Spokesperson Jennifer Whitmore. […]

While this government excels at climate rhetoric, it fails miserably at climate action Today’s EPA report, which reveals our carbon emissions are going up instead of down, must act as a wakeup call for the government, according to Social Democrats Climate Spokesperson Jennifer Whitmore. “Today’s EPA report confirms that our carbon emissions are going up, […]

This refusal to be honest with farmers is putting them in a very vulnerable position Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue is in denial about the contribution agriculture will have to make to our carbon budgets, according to Social Democrats Climate Spokesperson Jennifer Whitmore. “Ranges for sectoral emissions targets were published last November with the Climate Action […]

The government must stop its dithering and delay and publish the sectoral emissions ceilings The failure of the government to publish sectoral emissions ceilings is deeply concerning, according to Social Democrats Climate Spokesperson Jennifer Whitmore. “The unprecedented heatwave and raging wildfires across Europe this week have underscored the catastrophic impact of climate change – and […]

We are still awaiting the government’s updated policy statement on data centres – which has not been revised since 2018 The surge in energy consumption by data centres underscores the government’s ‘see-no-evil, hear-no-evil’ approach to the climate emergency, according to Social Democrats Energy Spokesperson Jennifer Whitmore. “The country has been convulsed in recent weeks by […]

The cost of living crisis is not impacting everyone equally The government has again failed to sufficiently target its cost-of-living measures to low and middle-income households, according to Social Democrats Climate Spokesperson Jennifer Whitmore. “In recent weeks, the Central Bank, the St Vincent de Paul, the ESRI and even the Oireachtas Committee on Budgetary Oversight […]

With just two months to go before quotas are again exhausted, the Minister must come forward with proactive solutions Inshore fishing is rapidly becoming both unsustainable and unviable because the Minister for Agriculture has refused to review his own department’s mackerel quotas, according to Social Democrats Agriculture Spokesperson Holly Cairns. “Currently, a paltry 2% of […]

This crisis must be a wakeup call. We need policies that will ensure our food sovereignty.     We are facing a serious crisis later in this year if farmers cannot access fertiliser, according to Social Democrats Agriculture Spokesperson Holly Cairns. “I met with local representatives of the Irish Farmers’ Association and the Irish Cattle and Sheep […]

This is now an emergency situation and the government must treat it as such. Energy price increases of nearly 40pc by Bord Gáis Energy are going to have a devastating impact on those already struggling to heat their homes, according to Social Democrats Climate Spokesperson Jennifer Whitmore. ‘The energy price increases announced by Bord Gáis […]

We cannot tolerate a situation in which certain retailers or suppliers may be engaging in cartel behaviour or price gouging Social Democrats Climate Spokesperson Jennifer Whitmore has written to the Irish Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) requesting that it opens an investigation into reports of price gouging and cartelism by motor fuel suppliers in […]

Extraordinary measures must be taken to insulate ordinary workers and families from Putin’s price shocks A maximum price cap on fuel must be introduced to stop the unsustainable increases in prices, according to Social Democrats Climate Spokesperson Jennifer Whitmore. “A maximum cap on fuel prices is the only way the government can ease the burden […]