Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I welcome the opportunity to make some statements on the European Council meeting of 8 and 9 March. It was in ways an historic meeting coming on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the European Union. There were some indications at the meeting of the launch of some important initiatives which hopefully will be included in the Berlin declaration.

Europe is at a crossroads. There has been trouble over the constitutional treaty resulting in a period of reflection for a couple of years after the people of France and the Netherlands voted substantially against it. There seems to be little appetite for further enlargement, to judge by the remarks of European leaders at the meeting. Although there has been overall economic progress with a 2.7% increase in employment there have been seven interest rate increases in the past 15 months. These are worrying factors but there are developments to look forward to as well.

While the Palestinian question was not central to the deliberations at the meeting it is a critical issue and pertinent to the Minister for Foreign Affairs who is present. Saudi Arabia has mediated an agreement of the unity Government. In the conclusions of the Brussels summit however the position of European leaders on this agreement appeared to be fudged. Section 41 of the conclusions stated:

The European Council welcomed the fact that an agreement has been reached in Mecca on 8 February on the formation of a Palestinian national unity government. It expresses its appreciation for the role of Saudi Arabia and Arab leaders in bringing about Palestinian reconciliation. The EU stands ready to work with a legitimate Palestinian government that adopts a platform reflecting the Quartet principles. It encourages the Quartet to continue its active contribution to the Middle East Peace Process.

It does not mention the unity Government as the legitimate Government. Norway, however, has fully and formally recognised the unity Government. We should seize the opportunity to recognise the unity Government formally. We are fudging it to the extent that we are abandoning the peace process to a limbo by making preconditions and asking the unity Government to jump through hoops, before we recognise it as legitimate. We should be more forthright. The European Union missed the opportunity to give stronger recognition to the unity Government. It could have stated its intention to henceforth channel funds from the Union directly to that Government rather than bypassing it as it did previous governments.

I hope the Minister will take these remarks on board. Ireland because of its close friendship with the Palestinian people should show that it is prepared to take the initiative to ensure this new Government works and brings peace to the area.

The central initiative agreed at the meeting was on climate change. I was pleased to see the German Presidency seizing global leadership for the European Union on this issue in the most profound way possible by establishing legally binding targets. To achieve, by 2020, reductions in carbon emissions far in excess of those achieved by 2007, considering that we must achieve a reduction of 8% by 2013 and a further reduction of 12% between 2013 and 2020, is a tall order. This is particularly the case because we have been going backwards in respect of achieving our targets, as Deputy Allen pointed out. Rather than making progress, we have been sliding. Ireland needs to put together a far more streamlined plan to set targets, establish auditing mechanisms and put structures in place that will make a real input into achieving our targets.

We did not start very well in this year's budget because the Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, provided €300 million for the purchase of carbon allowances from poorer countries up to 2013 rather than introducing sufficient measures to reduce emissions. It is unacceptable that we should budget to purchase carbon credits from poorer countries over the next five years as it is doing nothing for the strategy and totally contradicts the views aired on 8 and 9 March. It does nothing to achieve the targets set on these dates. If we continue to buy our way out of the problem, there is not a hope in hell that we will be anywhere close to meeting our reduction targets for 2020. Not only will we not meet the 30% target, we will not achieve the 20% reduction in emissions required in the period 1990 to 2020.

EU member states have agreed to reach a global deal to achieve a reduction of 30% by 2030 if other states on the global stage, including the United States, Australia, China and India, are willing. This is wishful thinking and will certainly be wishful thinking for Ireland unless it gets its act together. I certainly welcome the binding targets established on carbon emissions, the renewable energy mix and the boosting of energy efficiency by 2020.

The issue of nuclear energy is clearly controversial and a number of member states, led by France, argued strongly that nuclear energy should be included in the energy efficiency mix given that it yields very low carbon emissions, even though it is not strictly a renewable form of energy. This issue must be resolved. I agreed with the remarks of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, as reported, that this was not part of the agenda we would discuss.

There is certainly no harm in discussing all the options, including nuclear energy and its impact in the European context, but it would be wrong for us to go back down the nuclear energy road or even open the debate on this because we have such strong sources of renewable energy available to us. We, as an island community, have more wind and water than any other country in the European Union. One should remember that our land space under water is ten times greater than that over the water, thereby affording us access to a huge source of renewable energy, including wind and tidal energy. It is in this area that research and development should be conducted and in which investment should be made as quickly as possible.

The proposal regarding energy-efficient domestic bulbs is a great idea. The sooner we have these in place in offices, local authorities, homes and on streets, the better.

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