John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I thank the Minister. When one looks back at what the party has said over those years one can see that it has been vindicated. I hope our time has come. I recall the debate about Moneypoint, when we spoke about the problems with sulphur and CO2. A gentleman from the ESB stood up at a public meeting and said that wind energy here would never work. He said the entire county would have to be filled with wind turbines and that it was off the wall. I do not believe it is off the wall. I recall being on the Gay Byrne radio show 17 years ago discussing the environment and climate change. Gay Byrne was more concerned with fridges being dumped at Howth but I said he should be more worried about CO2. While it is invisible and odourless, it had to be explained to people that it is one main cause of global warming. It was a difficult concept to get through to people. A long period has elapsed since then and yet nothing has been done. With educational television programmes on global warming being broadcast nearly every night, people are beginning to grasp what is going on.

Seventeen years ago, we did know about global warming. NASA had produced its first studies showing that climate change was happening and even attributed it to human activities. I do not understand these claims that it is only now it has been discovered it was due to human activities. We have known it for so long yet successive Governments failed to act. When I was Lord Mayor of Dublin, the official car I ordered was run on biodiesel which was scoffed at. People have changed their perceptions since then.

The latest edition of New Scientist claims global warming and its consequences may even be worse than originally believed. The last thing we want to do is panic people and give rise to an atmosphere of despair because people feel helpless. People must, however, realise the situation is dangerous and must be acted upon. People are beginning to make the connection between strange weather conditions and global warming. The whole coastal area of Dublin is vulnerable to flooding. My constituents in Ringsend have had recent experience of flooding and for the first time are asking if it is linked to global warming. At the time of El Niño, I claimed on "Morning Ireland" that it may have something to do with global warming. I was told that it was irresponsible to make such a connection. Increasingly, however, we have to make such a connection to make global warming tangible and real for people. The problem must be traced back to people's lifestyles and individual responsibility.

This morning I explained to a group from St. Louis High School how the carbon fund would work and how Ireland would buy carbon credits from less developed countries. They were quite shocked that we intend to buy our way out of a problem, instead of being reasonable and cutting our carbon emissions. If the Minister had acted early on the Green Party's sensible policies in this regard, we would not find ourselves in this bind. The cost of the buy-out will not be €270 million. Instead, before anyone knows it, it will be up to €700 million. This is not an alarmist figure. The Minister can spin all he likes about the decoupling of economic growth from our emissions graph. The Taoiseach interestingly now uses the green lingo and buzzwords. He will be the next Al Gore the way he is going but it is not backed up by any action. Al Gore has a problem with his own carbon footprint if I am to believe what we read in the newspapers.

The Minister must examine fiscal instruments in tackling our carbon emissions. Deputies Eamon Ryan and Boyle explained on the Vincent Browne show how a carbon levy can work. Domestic tradeable quotas — carbon trading on a domestic level — must be introduced to ensure we are all responsible for our carbon input. If targets are set, our Kyoto Protocol responsibilities will become achievable. Is the Minister going to simply dismiss the idea of a carbon levy? He cannot dismiss it anymore. It is frankly irresponsible for any party to claim we cannot afford to introduce a carbon levy and a domestic tradeable quota. Those days are gone.

I note from today's The Guardian that the British Chancellor, Gordon Brown, was attacked by Ryanair because he had the temerity to introduce a further tax on aviation fuel. The Minister knows such levies must be introduced. It makes no sense that someone going to Paris for a weekend by aeroplane can travel more cheaply than someone going to Cork by train.

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