Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

This is a serious matter and the Taoiseach will pay heavily for not dealing with it. He may recall — I was not born at the time — that T. K. Whitaker set out his vision for Ireland in the late 1950s. The Taoiseach now celebrates that vision through the Celtic tiger. Does he agree that we need to move beyond petroleum and show the same vision as T. K. Whitaker if we are to benefit in the years ahead? Without such vision, our economy will not be at the races and people will suffer badly on account of the Taoiseach. With 57 amber alerts last year — these signify near blackouts — we clearly need an energy policy. Will the Taoiseach, as a first step, admit we have a problem of addiction to oil?

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