The Taoiseach's speech at COP28 was a cop-out. He had a golden opportunity for Ireland to take a lead, like when the Dáil declared a climate emergency and banned new fossil fuel exploration. Instead, he made a vague to meaningless call for a planned reduction in fossil fuels. He told a journalist that he supports carbon capture and storage. Environmental activists and scientists know that carbon capture and storage and all the weasel words at COP28 about unabated fossil fuels are just the latest ploy by big oil and gas to keep spewing out carbon while the planet burns. Will the Taoiseach stand with scientists, environmental activists and the future of humanity and commit Ireland clearly to a complete phase out of all fossil fuels? Will he stand with those who will join protests this Saturday at 12 noon, starting from the Bord Gáis Theatre? Will he announce Ireland's support for the fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty or is he going to continue to stand with those like the COP president and oil company CEO, Sultan al-Jaber?

The position of the Irish Government is that we want initially to phase down fossil fuels and then phase them out. It is a realistic one, which understands that we will still need to use fossil fuels for a period ahead, but not forever, and it does understand that in ten, 20 or 30 years, technologies that may not be viable now may be viable in future and carbon capture and storage may be one of those. Provided that the carbon and greenhouse gases do not go up into the environment, they do not contribute to climate change so if carbon capture and storage proves to work and to be viable in the future, we should not close it off as a possibility. There is a long-standing tradition on the far left of rejecting new technologies and it has been proven wrong time and time again in that regard.

Like what? What is the Taoiseach talking about?