These two weeks are critical for our future. In advance of COP26, it was made clear from the IPCC report that every single thing we do matters. All over this country our citizens and our inhabitants are calling for action to reverse climate breakdown. Children have been calling for action for many years, taking to the streets and pleading with politicians. Small farmers who I speak to know that the future is a future based on a greener product and a resilient food system. They have felt powerless.

What of the business sector? This week Chambers Ireland called for a dramatic change - a change that is not incremental but hits the fast forward button. It says our economy needs it, and it is right. Let us be honest. We also need it for our health and for the many species on this earth that depend on us to do the right thing not least for the survival of our own species but for peace on this planet because, make no mistake, war, migration and famine will escalate without it.

I returned from pre-COP in Rome a couple of weeks ago and felt some despair. I spoke to delegates from some of the countries most impacted by climate chaos and which have done little to bring about this collapse. There was message after message of solidarity but I wondered whether all trust had broken down. The developed world failed to live up to its climate finance obligations under the sustainable development goals and the Paris Agreement of giving €100 billion a year to developing nations. There was also that feeling that trust had broken down because the developed world even failed to follow through on a TRIPS waiver when it came to the pandemic.

Over the past few days, as I and other parliamentarians prepare to go to COP26 in Glasgow, I have felt hope, and we have to feel hope. That is what the IPCC report calls for. The very fact that today I heard the Taoiseach give an unequivocal commitment in an interview on "Morning Ireland" gives me that hope. The actions of politicians will in large part define what happens next for the future of our species. Today the Taoiseach is telling the world that Ireland will double its climate finance to developing nations by 2025 but the biggest contribution we will make as a country will be to reduce our emissions. As one of the highest emitting nations in the EU, how we will do this will be laid down in the climate action plan.

In light of all this I find it alarming that today, of all days, is the day Sinn Féin called for more consultation on the climate action plan. There will of course be consultation, but we have to see all politicians stepping up to the mark for the sake of our country and our world, and demonstrating leadership. Not only does Sinn Féin throw shade on the climate action plan but again this week, of all weeks, it wants to put a Bill before the Dáil that would effectively stop wind energy turbines from being built on land in Ireland. It withdrew it, no doubt because of the push-back. I do not like saying this but it is incumbent on all of us who care about the environment to call out this lack of commitment and this populism. We have done it when it comes to the media and we will do it when it comes to the Opposition. It too must play its part.

On today's Order of Business, there is a motion on the horse and greyhound racing fund, to be taken without debate. Regardless of people's views on greyhound and horse racing, I find it incredible that we would have no discussion in this House on the allocation of €70.4 million of public funding. It is not good enough simply to say we are going to refer this to the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Greyhound Racing Ireland's chair, Frank Nyhan, said in response to the budget allocation this year that GRI has invested significantly in its care and welfare policy during 2021 and that this year's budget increase will assist with the expansion of a range of care and welfare initiatives in 2022. Yet Greyhound Racing Ireland is still only selectively collecting data on injuries and deaths of greyhounds at the race tracks.

On the back of a member of the public coming forward to me, GRI has confirmed that there are no vets present at either the public or the private trials that take place throughout this country. The eyewitness I spoke to told me of how he has witnessed howling dogs that are in pain being put into trailers due to the lack of a vet being present at the track. Surely if GRI is in receipt of €17 million of public money, it can put in place a permanent vet at every racecourse as is the case in Britain. This would also allow for proper independent data on the number of injuries and deaths that actually take place at race tracks. It is also worth noting that dogs injured at the private trials are not even eligible for the injury scheme that GRI has. Given that it is mostly young, inexperienced greyhounds that race at these unofficial trials, surely it makes even more sense to have vets present there, so that those dogs would be eligible for the injury scheme. It is convenient that no data is collected and no vet is present to verify how many injuries and fatalities take place at the trials, particularly at the unofficial trials when it is young and inexperienced dogs, because of course that would push the figures downwards.

I will call a vote on the Order of Business because I think it shocking that we would allow a motion for the allocation of €17 million in public funding proceed without any debate in this House.

I would just point out to the Senator that the motion in question involves referring the matter to the relevant committee.