Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

The Government's environmental commitments clearly state that it will implement greenhouse gas taxation policies on a phased, incremental basis. Can we take it that commitment has been shredded and will not be implemented at all? What about the commitment to extend the levy on plastic bags to other areas such as non-reusable packaging? Has that been shredded or does it still stand? The Government stated that it would implement and improve, where necessary, the full range of ethics legislation. When the Government made that commitment, did the Taoiseach have in mind the Prevention of Corruption Act 1916? Its implementation is open to question.

Road safety continues to be a very serious area, with 99 people killed in road traffic accidents in the first three months of the year. The programme for Government states that the Government will introduce road safety and safe driving instruction in the secondary school curriculum. Will renewed emphasis be placed on this and can we expect to see a serious change in that before the election given the nature of the road accidents that are taking place?

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