Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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I hear what Mr. Carroll is saying about where we want to get to and how the national mitigation plan identifies the problem. The point I am trying to raise is that we are not even going to go a quarter of the distance we need to go in reducing greenhouse gas emissions between now and 2020. According to the EPA, and the Department agreed with the appraisal today, at best we will reach 4% to 6% of the targeted reduction, whereas in fact we should be at 20% of it.

Every time we raise the point, we hear about what is planned and the €21 billion and so on. The problem is the slow pace. We are not even off the blocks on solar power. We have not even got into offshore wind yet. We are still messing around with public transport. I heard the ambitious figures for electric cars but, my God, we are making a slow start with it. That is the point I am making. This needs to be actioned and accelerated, taking on board the point that we are only one quarter of the way there.