Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

My understanding, and that of the public, was that all moneys collected from the carbon levy would be used for the purpose of reducing CO2 emissions. The Minister only mentions €130 million to retrofit homes. I got the impression from the Minister's Budget Statement that this fund has already been raided by the Department of Finance. He stated clearly that some of the money will be used for purposes other than for what this carbon levy is supposed to be for. If we are to sell this principle to the public, I would like an assurance that this levy and the moneys from it will be ring-fenced and that a clear statement will be made each year on how much and exactly where it was spent and that at the end of the year, when presenting the carbon budget for the following year, the Minister will report how exactly the money was spent in the previous year.

The Department of Finance should not be allowed to touch this money if it is called a carbon levy. My committee and I will support any effort the Minister requires to ensure this does not happen. I strongly suggest that there is a provision in his climate change Bill stating that all moneys raised from a carbon levy will be used for that purpose and, therefore, it will have a statutory basis. Let us get off on the right foot.

Our committee has endeavoured to approach this topic on an all-party basis, which has worked to date. I hope that will continue. I am pleased the Minister is proceeding with the climate change Bill. As he knows, we produced the heads of a Bill. I hope the heads of his Bill will be debated at our committee and that together, we may be able to produce something which will achieve all-party support.

Another matter about which I am concerned is all this smart this and smart that, including smart transport. The reality is the Department of Transport has done absolutely nothing to show any progress on the way public transport is provided. We do not have one bus or one local authority vehicle displaying a sign stating that it is run by renewable energy. We have an infrastructural deficit in terms of our public transport.

In regard to the capital programme, will somebody realise the potential of upgrading our grid as a matter of urgency? We should stop fooling around trying to decide what to do on this issue. As the Minister well knows, building a grid is vital infrastructure to enable us to transform the means by which public transport and everything else could be run.

I refer to the interconnection to the super grid that will be developed in Europe and through which Ireland could avail of an export market. If we do not prepare the ground now, we will not be in a position to gain access to the grid for those who want to invest in renewable energy, whether ocean energy, onshore wind energy or otherwise. This is a real problem for investors.

I urge the Government to plough the money into the infrastructure that is necessary for what would be a major export business for Irish green energy in the future. Let us put aside the nice ideas we have about undergrounds and so on and get on with providing a grid that will enable people to access it in order that we can really transform the manner in which we produce our electricity.

As Deputy Hogan stated, we import fossil fuels at tremendous cost to this State. Oil prices will increase. We are aware we have peak oil. The minute oil prices increase, it will be detrimental to this country. The sooner we develop our own source of energy, the better. One cannot do that without the infrastructure. We found that with rail, road, etc. I appeal to the Government to realise the potential there and to invest the money.

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