John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I welcome that the Department of the Taoiseach will become carbon neutral at some stage, but does the Taoiseach agree that as leader of the country, he should lead by example? Will he tell the House what he will do to reduce his carbon footprint? I do not expect to see him on a bicycle soon, but will he change his car and take public transport occasionally so he can see what people must suffer? If he saw what people must deal with, he might improve the situation. I hope the Taoiseach agrees that climate change is the biggest change facing humanity and by extension the most important electoral issue. Will he make that statement here today? Would he also agree that, as the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Noel Dempsey, has said, what we need now is an all-party agreement as regards climate change? Would the Taoiseach be prepared to make that statement?

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