Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

In reply to Deputy Sargent, Ireland has successfully decoupled its greenhouse gas emissions. From 1990 to 2005, emissions grew by 25% whereas our economy grew by 150%. This is reflected in the emissions intensity of the Irish economy. In 2004, emissions per unit of GDP were 48% of their 1990 level. The equivalent figure for the European Union is 78%.

The actions we must take include setting a steeply ambitious target to deliver one third of electricity from renewable sources by 2020, making maximum uses of new technologies for co-generation in Irish power stations with biomass, planning for the use of carbon capture, clean coal generation technology with which Deputy Sargent will agree——

See this speech in context