John Cregan (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)

I am pleased to have an opportunity to make a brief contribution to this important debate. I support the amendment and commend the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the Government for the efforts they have made in recent years and the responsible and balanced manner with which they have acted.

Ireland's first national climate change strategy was published in October 2000 and, by any standard, has been enormously successful. This is not just my opinion or view but a fact which stands up to scrutiny. While our greenhouse gas emissions were approximately 25% above 1990 levels in 2005, the economy grew by roughly 150% in the period 1990 to 2005. We have, therefore, successfully and significantly decoupled greenhouse gas emissions from economic growth, an achievement any country would be proud to claim.

Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions must be viewed against the background of sustained economic growth. The challenge we face is to maintain strong economic performance while lowering our greenhouse gas emissions. It is not a question of achieving one or other objective but ensuring we meet both of them. We have a moral responsibility to meet our Kyoto Protocol commitments and a national responsibility to maintain economic competitiveness and growth, with particular emphasis on retaining jobs in heavy industry. Many hundreds of such jobs are in businesses in my constituency, including Aughinish Alumina and the Tarbert power station on the Shannon estuary. It would not be acceptable to concentrate all our efforts on reducing greenhouse gas emissions while ignoring the important role played by heavy industry.

The Opposition parties seem convinced that the 2000 strategy was a failure, which is not surprising as all parties play politics. Friends of the Earth and other non-governmental organisations are wrong to describe our efforts as a failure. I will list some of the measures introduced as a result of the strategy. In energy, the Government will ensure that 15% of the electricity supply comes from renewable sources by 2010. This will reduce emissions by almost 1.5 million tonnes. In transport, technological improvements in vehicles, despite the rapidly rising car numbers on the roads, will remove almost 500,000 tonnes of emissions. Rebalancing of motor taxes and fuel economy labelling will remove approximately 50,000 tonnes of emissions, while investment in public transport will remove approximately 800,000 tonnes. Use of bio-fuels as an alternative to petrol and diesel will reduce emissions by 770,000 tonnes.

In our homes, the combined effect of three previous enhancements of the energy performance requirements of the building regulations, coupled with further revisions which are due to come into force in 2008, will remove almost 500,000 tonnes of emissions. In the business sector, Sustainable Energy Ireland programmes to reduce energy consumption, including the large industry energy network, energy agreements programme, commercial bio-heat scheme and combined heat and power programme, will reduce emissions by more than 500,000 tonnes.

In agriculture and forestry, CAP reform will reduce emissions by 2.4 million tonnes per annum. In addition, 2 million tonnes of emissions will be removed annually from the atmosphere by forests. In the waste sector, the capture of gas for power generation from landfills and a reduction in the volume of waste going to landfill will contribute to reducing total national emissions. We have achieved significant reductions in the amount of waste going to landfill and can be proud of our record on recycling. One third of household waste is being recycled, which is good for all of us.

Every one of the measures I have outlined was contained in the 2000 strategy and has been implemented. It is clear, therefore, that the strategy was not a failure but a success. In total, measures introduced under the 2000 strategy will remove almost 9 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year during the Kyoto Protocol period, 2008 to 2012.

The new strategy published this week by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, contains measures to remove an additional 5 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually. On any measurement, the Government's policy on climate change is working. The success we are achieving in the run up to meeting our Kyoto commitments in the 2008 to 2012 period places Ireland on a sound footing to meet the more challenging greenhouse gas emission reduction targets we anticipate after 2012. At the recent summit of the European Council, Ireland had the confidence to support a higher level of ambition by all developed countries, initially in the period to 2020 but also beyond that to 2050.

I compliment the Government and the Minister, Deputy Roche, on the responsible manner in which they have managed to balance the growth in our economy that has produced the jobs to which I referred. I compliment industry on the responsible action it has taken in reducing emissions and for taking part in emissions trading. We have been criticised during the recent debate on the Carbon Fund Bill for buying carbon credits but we are perfectly entitled to do so as part of the criteria laid down in the Kyoto Protocol. We have done it successfully and, in doing so, we are assisting the industries that have been responsible and are playing their part. I commend the amendment to the House.

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