Mary White (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)

I welcome this debate and the opportunity to exchange views on this matter of national and global importance. I notice the deserted look on the Labour Party benches to debate this issue However, it is unsurprising, given that this time last week and again this morning Deputy Stagg told the House debates such as this were mere parliamentary fillers. Given that the Deputy served as a Minister of State in the Departments with responsibility for the environment, transport and energy and communications, it is all the more disappointing he considers a debate on a crucial matter such as this to be a "motherhood and apple pie proposal".

As the Minister of State conveyed to the House, this is the greatest issue facing our era. Last week, for the fourth time, the UN intergovernmental panel on climate change stated the impact of future temperature change would be severe. With temperatures predicted to increase by between 1.1° Celsius and 6.4° Celsius during this century and sea levels predicted to rise by up to 0.59 of a metre, the world is poised for a potent melting pot of hurricanes, storms, drought and the extinction of up to 30% of its species. Is the Arctic about to say "Goodbye" to the polar bear as Ireland says "Hello" to the little egret?

We do not need to look at the statistics and prognoses of the latest report to know adverse change is upon us. In many of our gardens roses are still in bloom. Swallows only left our shores for sunnier climes a few weeks ago. One swallow does not make a summer but an autumn with many is a weather vane for the change in our climate. Our potato farmers have experienced a summer of devastating flooding and cases of brown rot, a disease attributable, some say, to global warming. Ireland does not need a history lesson on the effects of potato failure but I doubt many Members of the House are aware that successive repeats of the crop's failure will ultimately mean we will have to turn to maize and other crops as a substitute. Dr. John Sweeney of the UN climate change panel who spoke recently at a conference in Kilkenny on the impact of climate change on agriculture warned that the flooding Ireland may become accustomed to might mean farm animals spending the entire year in sheds and slatted houses because the weather would leave farmers with no grass for grazing. Professor Sherwood Rowland who discovered the link between CFCs and the destruction of the ozone layer once said: "What's the use of having developed a science well enough to make predictions if in the end all we're willing to do is stand around and wait for them to come true?"

Careless use of the world's resources has brought us to an era of peak oil and irrefutable evidence of climate change and we must be ready to cope with its consequences. A post-carbon society is our new goal. The Green Party in government has fostered new thinking among decision-makers, householders and business people about creating an era of clean, renewable and resourceful energy, replacing the age of oil and gas and our energy supply's subservience to the geopolitical crises of the day, one in which energy will come from wind, wave, crops and sun rather than sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

Deputy McManus referred to the need for implementation but she should be aware it has begun. The Power of One campaign this year demonstrated the carbon and income levels that could be saved by an average household. The continuation of green energy schemes and the recent announcement by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources of increases in current and capital spending next year for his Department are more than welcome. The proposed planning exemptions for micro-renewable technologies, outlined by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, show forward thinking and innovation. The proposed building regulations regarding energy efficiency and the recently published energy efficiency action plan are also signs of great progress.

Our role in government is to elevate our concerns on global warming from the scientific and theoretical to the political and practical. It is this determination that distinguishes the Green Party from other parties.

Perhaps the start of an old anti-slavery hymn sums up the moment which is upon us: "Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide." This is our moment to ensure that we take the necessary measures to protect our planet and to secure both the national and global economies in the face of the greatest moral imperative of our time.

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