Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

It is not a question of being confident but of being committed. We have substantially decoupled Irish economic growth from emissions, something evident when one considers the figures for the past 16 years. An enormous range of issues have been considered only in the last few years, including the climate change strategy and the Green Paper on Energy.

The credits are part of the system, and everywhere else they are considered as such rather than a disadvantage or a means of circumventing commitments. They must be taken into account as part of the Kyoto Protocol. There is nothing wrong with them if the issue is simply how one saves carbon emissions. Reducing them in any country helps the global position. It is a question of having either a global position or global crisis, and if reductions are achieved in one place rather than another as part of a system, I see nothing wrong with that. However, we should try to maximise our role, which is clearly that to which we have committed ourselves.

Chancellor Merkel decided not to deal with the constitution before the declaration on the future of Europe had been completed. However, the Presidency has continued since the start of this year, building on preliminary work last summer, to talk to countries and explore what people would accept, particularly French and Dutch politicians, including all candidates for the former country's presidency. The Presidency has been conducting similar surveys in all the other countries, and Chancellor Merkel will discuss the issue at lunch on Sunday. She has made a commitment to state a position for the June European Council meeting if she can secure agreement.

My view is that in the short period after the French election in June, the time available to the Presidency to deal with the issue will be very tight. A few weeks separate the French election and the June European Council meeting. Mr. Sarkozy has been most positive on the issue, stating that, if elected, he would move very quickly; I have not heard the same from the Dutch.

There is a view, which I find difficult, that we should try to change the format of the constitution rather than the document itself, moving many of its parts into various annexes, afterwards trying to secure parliamentary ratification in several countries. I detect growing support for such a strategy in the European Council. However, that would leave Ireland with its own issues to address. Several countries might take that option in June if there is success, but I suspect that it will take longer.

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