Professor Peadar Kirby:

I quoted from some of them, but I do not have the text in front of me. The heads state the Bill is subservient to goals such as sustainable development, economic impact, securing and safeguarding economic development and competitiveness, taking advantage of economic opportunities, least cost and maximising economic efficiency. I am not arguing that these are not worthy goals, but it seems very short-sighted to build them into law when the most urgent thing we must do is reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. If this costs more than we might like to see it cost, if it interferes with economic efficiency, if it leads to a dent in competitiveness, we must face that. We cannot make the achievement of the goal subservient to these other worthy objectives. The tension here needs to be reflected in a more adequate way. One cannot be subservient to the other and it is not wise to write it into law.