An Independent TD says he does not believe in Climate Change and that 'God above is in charge of the weather and we can't do anything about it'.

The comments in the Dáil by Kerry TD Danny Healy Rae during a debate on climate change led to him being dubbed 'Kerry's Sarah Palin' by Galway Independent TD Catherine Connolly.

Deputy Healy Rae insists that the world's climate is nothing to do with "combustible engines", or mankind.

Speaking yesterday, he said: "I don't agree with all this story about climate change at all. There has been patterns of climate change going back over the years, before indeed there was ever a combustible engine."

Galway TD Catherine Connolly said Deputy Healy Rae was in denial, and referred him to the reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.