Mr. Gavin Harte:

With regard to the intergenerational aspect, there is a clear responsibility with this legislation to consider the long term. There are certainly people alive now who will feel the severe impacts of climate change. We are experiencing some effects already and it is fair to say the number of extreme weather events is increasing with a warming atmosphere. In effect, we are experiencing climate change today and the impact is likely to worsen if we only carry on business as usual. From an intergenerational aspect it is really important for the Bill to have a long-term target. If we consider other areas of similar legislation, the Disability Act is setting very clear legislative targets for hiring people with disabilities. There are similar stories in the likes of the restructuring of the Anglo Irish Bank bond, which happened in February, as that has a target of 2038 for the first capital repayment, with final payment of the bond in 2050. The idea of setting long-term targets is not a new phenomenon for legislators and it is fair for us to say that similar to a financial target, we can have targets for carbon emissions. The restructuring of the Anglo Irish Bank bond may be for this generation and we are forgetting about the future but we should not repeat such thinking when it comes to climate change and carbon emissions.