Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

——and returns enthusiastically converted to the need to do something about it.

Let us tell the Minister the history of this. The Kyoto Agreement was reached in 1997, the year Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats returned to Government. The Minister has had the entire life of the Kyoto Agreement — almost ten years — to get it right and he has not. He now faces a situation where, in November 2006, he tells us we must reduce our carbon emissions by over 15 million tonnes a year between now and 2012. He tells us a fairy tale that of the reduction 8 million tonnes a year will be met through fine plans of the Government for public transport, alternative energies and reducing the cattle herd, 3 million tonnes a year will be met from industry through emissions trading and 3.6 million tonnes a year must be bought by us.

First, 3.6 million tonnes a year between now and 2012 will cost €180 million at today's prices, but yesterday the European Commission made a number of decisions on the emissions trading scheme the purpose of which is to drive up the price of carbon. The European Commission has concluded the emissions trading scheme operating in Europe is not achieving its objective, that the price of carbon is so low that it is not providing sufficient incentive and motivation for polluting industries to reduce carbon emissions and to switch to clean technologies, and that the price must be increased. The European Commission's ambition is to raise the price to the region of €30 per tonne. If it reaches €30 per tonne, the 3.6 million tonnes a year the Minister is already committed to buying will cost the taxpayer in the region of €500 million between now and 2012, and of course there will be a continuing cost thereafter.

That figure, of course, is dependent on us getting away with purchasing 3.6 million tonnes a year by way of allowances. It seems the target of 3 million tonnes a year, which the Minister expects to be achieved through the emissions trading system, must be reduced because of yesterday's decision. The European Commission has put a new cap on the amount which we can achieve through the emissions trading scheme, which reduces it by about 1.5 million tonnes. The Minister told us in select committee yesterday that he will try to negotiate his way out of that and persuade the Commission to bring the cap back up. I wish him luck.

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