Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

These are not just my sums and we can talk about this afterwards, if the Minister wishes. I am putting in perspective that there is, first and foremost, a moral responsibility rather than arguing about how much it is. The bottom line is that we are failing in terms of our commitments. We are obviously hanging a great deal on the aspect of the Kyoto package which states that carbon trading is legitimate. However, it was seen as a supplement to the actions which were to be taken domestically, not a primary part. That is why this Bill has to be rejected because certainly the budget presented the €270 million carbon trading package as the foremost central big idea coming from this Government. That in itself is to abuse the understanding arrived at in Kyoto.

I take the point made by Deputy Gilmore about the imperialistic aspect of other countries who are told they may continue so long as we pay for our business as usual. Of the 500 projects mentioned in Nairobi, my colleague, Deputy Eamon Ryan, who was there just before the Minister, found that two of them were in Africa.

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