John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

The Green Party welcomes this resolution. Like Deputy Rabbitte, my colleague, Deputy Eamon Ryan, wondered if it had anything to do with the smuggling operations which take place. I assume it is also to help people, particularly the elderly, who find it difficult at this time of year. We are having a very severe winter already.

The Green Party wanted to see this Government embrace eco-taxation and energy taxes. As the Taoiseach may well know, the ESRI has clearly outlined how this can be done and how it can assist those on lower incomes. That is why the Combat Poverty Agency has welcomed these measures. In the long-term, I would like this Government and future Governments to introduce measures which assist householders in reducing their heating bills by providing better insulation in homes and by investing more in solar panels which would pay for themselves over a period of years. That is the type of innovation the Green Party would like but, regrettably, it has not happened.

This budget has tinkered around with energy saving measures. The Minister has gone a little bit down the road in regard to biofuels. The budget has been disappointing overall in terms of what has been achieved. We should look at what Gordon Brown has done in the United Kingdom where one can get reductions if one invests in energy saving devices. That has not happened and, unfortunately, it is short-sighted.

As the Taoiseach knows, we had a debate last week on climate change, which we need to combat. The committee this Government set up has stated clearly that houses in this city which are not 4 m, or 12 ft, above sea level are vulnerable to flooding, so we have a hell of a lot to do. As the Budget Statement outlined, this is the biggest ecological challenge we face. Much more must be done, and more innovation would be very welcome.

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