John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

Why does the Minister of State ignore the committee's advice? The Minister of State has not calculated, in talking about waste management, the CO2 emissions from these waste plants, another example of a lack of joined-up thinking. These are not calculated, and we will therefore go way above our commitments to the Kyoto Agreement. In talking about the reclamation of estuary lands, the Minister of State should tell that to his builder friends in the tent in Galway. What will they say, as land reclamation is big business?

We should examine hard engineering solutions carefully. People may be told that a wall will be built, for example, but according to the Minister of State's committee this approach will not work. Although Fianna Fáil speaks of madness, the real madness is on its side of the House. I am disappointed by the lack of response from Fianna Fáil's coalition partners, the Progressive Democrats. Where are they? Do they have any solutions or responses on the issue of climate change?

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