John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I made it clear in the carbon budget that what I was announcing would reduce it by approximately 600,000 tonnes. We have a range of issues across all Departments, which is precisely the reason we put in place the committee, chaired by a member of the Opposition, on climate change. That is a good progressive measure. At Government level we have the energy security and climate change committee, where Ministers from all sectors are represented.

I know the Deputy has further questions on this matter but it is quite clear we have a task, something I recognised on publication of the carbon budget and the awareness-raising campaign. There is a job to be done and all the issues I have addressed, particularly regarding transport and agriculture, will be challenging, to say the least.

We have made a start, however, and I emphasise that 2007 was a turning point, the year in which climate change became an issue. It is only since then that the penny has dropped with all the political parties that this is the defining issue of our age. It is only since then that it has gradually begun to sink in across all sectors. We are now getting a buy-in from IBEC and industry as a whole, as well as the agriculture sector. Everyone realises this is a challenge, allied to the other problem we are facing. This will ensure we will meet our targets.

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