Proposed special powers over smoky fuel are 'chilling’ - Mayo election candidate

A Mayo councillor, and candidate in the upcoming general election, has described proposed new powers that could see council officials stop cars and raid homes to check for smoky fuels as ‘totalitarian and chilling’.

Aontú Councillor Paul Lawless says the Department of Climate is seeking to bring in ‘wide ranging special powers’ in regard to the sale, production, distribution, transportation or storage of fuel under the Air Pollution Amendment Bill 2024.

It would grant full power to the minister (Eamon Ryan) to decide the standard specification composition of any type of fuel which is burned in fireplaces or fireplaces in a particular area which will be prohibited, he said.

Commented Councillor Lawless: “The fact that the minister would be able to do this without a Dáil vote is one of the most radical and hardline anti rural proposals we have seen in this country. It is absolutely wrong.”

He described the proposed new Act as 'like the last sting of a dying wasp', predicting the Greens won’t see Dáil chambers in any numbers again. “They are no friends to rural Ireland,” he stated.