Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

We would have preferred to see the climate change targets retained. There was a major debate on the issue. Some people thought the target date was too far away, others did not want one and others thought it meaningless to set a date of 2050, which is 45 years distant. It was felt moves should be made more quickly and that the 2050 date would be seen as a pious aspiration. The original target date selected was 2010——

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