Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not feel we are at panic stage yet. There is a great deal we can do on climate change in a relatively short time. We are supposed to achieve certain targets within ten years and it is well within our capacity to achieve them in that time period even though we are late starters.

The first thing we had to do was to convince people of the necessity to change and become less reliant on fossil fuels. As we do that, we must also become less reliant on the electricity generated from fossil fuels. Once we have crossed that part of the divide, the rest will follow readily. There is serious interest in electric cars this year where there was no such interest in the past.

Some of us have, over the past number of years, tried to sell the idea of alternative energy and the renewable energy sector and been publicly criticised and ridiculed for it. That is part of the battle we must face into. We must balance our approach, try to ensure that we do not target part of our community, or be seen to do so, in our journey towards achieving the necessary change. We have the capacity to do that, provided we do it right, and avoid the possibility of postponing forever something we need to start doing now.