Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

Having listed to the Taoiseach's reply I did not hear much reference to the answer I expected to Question No. 16. I will focus on that question given that time is limited. The Taoiseach mentioned that he was disappointed with other countries that have not opened up their borders to the extent that Ireland has done. Likewise, does he recognise the disappointment in other countries that Ireland is not taking as seriously as it should its responsibilities in terms of social partnership for the spiralling cost of energy? Will he ensure that item is dealt with centrally in the partnership talks even to the extent that Sweden, which has a commission against oil dependency, has set 2020 as a deadline for cancelling its oil dependency? Will the Taoiseach ensure that workers in social partnership are part of the changes, for example those at Eirgrid which the Green Paper or Deloitte & Touche want to separate from the ESB? Those issues need to be dealt with at partnership level if we are to put ourselves in a position to be able to deal with the energy challenges facing us. The cost of not dealing with them, the estimated €1 billion for carbon trading would pay for 400 buses and a metro line. These are real cost savings that need to be factored in if we are to get full consensus on how to get through the challenges that face us and should be as central to social partnership as, for example, in Sweden, where it is very much cross-party, cross-sectional and involves every person.

See this speech in context