Michael Mulcahy (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)

We are discussing the purchase of carbon credit by the Government and I have not heard anyone argue that the Government should not do so. The Minister and the Government are to be commended on participating fully and rationally within the guidelines of the Kyoto Protocol. The world in general has been very slow to react to the crisis that is climate change. Many of us may only become aware of it when we see the results of drought in Africa shown on television or when watching the excellent television series "Planet Earth" presented by David Attenborough on BBC which shows the melting polar ice caps and the threat to animals in the polar regions. Climate change is a serious issue. It is regrettable that the international community has been so slow to accept what has become a consensus point of view within the scientific community but perhaps this is the way democracies work. It is very regrettable that the United States has only been brought into this process, kicking and screaming and it gives me no pleasure to say this.

The Government is ratifying the Kyoto Protocol and limiting our greenhouse gas emissions to 13% above our 1990 levels. We have successfully decoupled our economic growth from emissions. Between 1990 and 2004, our emissions grew by 23% but our economy grew by almost 150%. While statistics may be boring, this decoupling in our fast growing economy is significant.

The challenge for the Government is maintaining the twin objectives of economic growth and a sound, safe environmental policy. It is not easy, but it is the challenge we face. Another speaker said he hoped incentives would be included in next week's budget. I echo that. I am quite confident that the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government will have had ongoing dialogue with the Minister for Finance on this issue. The only way we will effect real change is if people modify their behaviour. We all know that people will only change their behaviour if they are incentivised to do so. Why, by and large, do people not drive hybrid cars? The answer is that they are generally not for sale and it is difficult to get the fuel for them in petrol stations. If people were demanding those products, the companies would supply them. There should be no excise duties on green cars.

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