Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

A journey began seven years ago when Ireland signed the Kyoto Protocol. We knew then that the destination of this journey, in 2012, was to ensure the increase in Ireland's climate change emissions would be limited to 13% over 1990 levels. We knew what we had to do and the protocol was ambitious, far-sighted and reasonable. Five years ago, at the launch of Ireland's climate change abatement strategy, the then Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Noel Dempsey, stated: "Business as usual is no longer an option for Ireland". This strategy was the road map which told us what had to be achieved. A promise to renew the strategy every two years has not been kept. Earlier this year, when the Kyoto Protocol came into force, Ireland had an obligation to honour that international commitment that we had made previously. Long journeys start with small steps, but sadly those first few steps have been faltering. We need to concentrate and focus clearly on the target to be met in seven years' time.

Politicians must take a long-term view. We must move away from taxing labour and enterprise towards examining environmental damage and taxing finite resources and poor planning. We must make a shift in how we engage with policies and we must improve Government policies to assist in reducing climate change emissions.

We are producing more waste, driving further and gobbling up more land with urban sprawl. We need to change policies and get back on track. In Government, the Greens will put policies in place to reduce waste, improve public transport, encourage organic agriculture, promote renewable energy and promote proper planning and construction. It is not rocket science but it requires a commitment from Government to take the environment more seriously than it has done to date.

If the Climate Change Targets Bill 2005 is approved by the Oireachtas, it would place a legal requirement on the Government to change its policies to ensure that Ireland meets its obligations under international agreements. We want the Minister and his colleagues to report to the House annually on how we are meeting those commitments. So far the news has not been that good.

There are solutions whereby we can reduce waste. The plastic bag levy worked, for example, and we are delighted when our ideas are taken up by the Government. One cannot stop there, however. We must go further and we look forward to those commitments being met by the Government.

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