Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

My question relates to the likely agenda for the next meeting with the social partners. It is in order to ask whether the Carlow sugar factory and the funding of the Community Workers Co-operative will be on that agenda. These are issues which are pertinent to the social partnership process.

A bugbear we have regularly raised in this House is the non-delivery of the promised 100,000 additional affordable houses. How do matters stand in this regard and will it be on the agenda in any developed form?

Given that next week, on 16 February, the Kyoto Protocol will come into effect, has it been explained to the social partners the degree to which the Government will be using taxpayers' money to compensate for not having taken sufficient action to address the requirements of it? What is the latest estimate in this regard? Figures of €35 million, €50 million and €200 million a year in terms of carbon credits have been mentioned. Have the social partners discussed this and are they taking into account that payment in the overall plans?

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