Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

The policy in this Bill is not new because Fine Gael published it last April but it is apposite to discuss it in the aftermath of the figures announced last week by the UN committee on climate change. Those figures proved that the time has come for Ireland to take its head out of the sand on climate change and accept personal and national responsibility for what it has contributed to climate change, and to mend that for the future. It is time for us to take seriously all the issue surrounding climate change.

On this Government's watch Ireland has lost all right to promote itself as a green and clean land. Our CO2 emissions per head are the highest in the world. We have lost all moral standing and authority when it comes to the environment and the future of the planet. We can begin again, if not to reduce emissions, to reduce the growth in them but this is a monumental task. The challenge is not just to reduce emissions but to do so without damaging growth in the economy but encouraging and sustaining it.

The failure to tackle any of the parameters on energy use has made this a difficult task. Energy production is highly inefficient and totally dependent on carbon fuels, 90% of which must be imported. The Government has stood by and watched wasteful and inefficient production. It has also ignored consumption. Last year we built 80,000 new homes, and over the past ten years close to 500,000 new homes, but no attempt was made to increase their insulation standard or to maximise the use of renewable or improved heating fuels. Short-term commercial interests were put before those of purchasers or of the planet.

Our transport emissions have made the greatest contribution to greenhouse gases in recent years. This is caused by growth not only in numbers of cars but in congestion, an almost entirely urban phenomenon that the Government has ignored. We must look in turn for the greatest reductions from this sector. This requires a focused and forensic consideration of how to set about the task which will be painful and challenging. If the economy is to grow and if we are to improve our quality of life and sustain living standards we must improve and increase, not reduce, mobility. That is the challenge.

Being an island Ireland needs a strong aviation sector and cannot consider major carbon taxes to prevent planes flying in and out of the country. We need this sector to get our goods to market and to sustain our transport industry. We could, however, consider the foods we import. There is no reason to bring sugar snap beans from South Africa. We can live without them and grow cabbage instead. Spinach jumps out of the ground here.

Rail freight has become almost extinct, simply because CIE says it is uneconomic. The Government does not seem to have a view but it must take the long and broad view of rail freight and consider the external factors that exist for this versus road haulage. There are major costs in road haulage that are not considered when CIE decides that rail freight is uneconomic and cannot be sustained. It may be that rail freight is not appropriate for all goods. I accept that. Rail cannot achieve the kind of penetration enjoyed by road haulage. However, we cannot ignore the fact that the latter industry is responsible for huge emissions. At the very minimum we must consider stopping the destruction of rail infrastructure and the selling off of existing rolling stock.

When it comes to road transport, there is no denying the car. The population outside Dublin is extremely dispersed and people will always depend on cars. It is crucial, therefore, that we begin to concentrate on ensuring that we can decouple their mobility from CO2 emissions. Mobility is crucial to quality of life and we must ensure the people retain the latter.

The use of bio-fuels, which the Bill proposes, is clearly the way to proceed. Engine improvements and modifications will come in time. What we can do now, without inconveniencing anyone, making any effort or introducing carbon taxes, is demand, as Fine Gael suggests, the introduction of a 5% bio-mix for petrol and a 2% mix for diesel. The Bill is not prescriptive in this regard. Overnight, what we are suggesting would lead to a 5% reduction in fossil fuel use, make us less dependent on volatile and insecure oil supplies, reduce our CO2 emissions and kick-start home production of bio-fuels by creating a guaranteed market. In short and as my colleague stated, it is "no-brainer". I am delighted the Minister, although late in the day, is of the same view.

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