Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

I assure the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, as well as the Minister of State present, that Fine Gael as a party is committed to playing a constructive and meaningful role in combating climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. My party and I are convinced of the need for action and we certainly do not need to be lectured in any way by people about this matter or the importance of taking initiatives to deal with a subject that is becoming more topical and important to the future development of our country and the European Union.

As an example, the Fine Gael spokesman on energy matters, Deputy Simon Coveney, recently announced a proposal which submitted to the Government an idea that windfall profits can be generated from our electricity supply stations and rebalanced in the context of other measures that could be taken, such as reducing VAT. These are the types of proposal that will come more to the fore in the next couple of years to deal with some of the measures reflective of Government and national policy in stemming the tide of increasing levels of greenhouse gas emissions.

Some dramatic evidence, if we need such evidence related to the global climate, is the rapid decrease of the Arctic Sea ice cover over the past few years. Consideration of what is happening in the Arctic and Antarctic appears to be a litmus test of how policymakers are positioned with regard to climate change. The sea ice reaches its minimum in September each year at the end of the Arctic summer. I read that the ice cover reached an all-time low last year when it was 23% below the previous record.

We have seen in the media and our television screens that for the first time in living memory, the North-West Passage, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across the north of Canada, was open. I recently read in some UK publications and newspapers articles detailing a prediction from polar scientists that the Arctic Sea ice will disappear completely this September. If that is right, it will be the first time in human history that this section of the North Pole will have been ice-free.

Often people wonder what changes taking place in climatic conditions worldwide and the melting of ice in the Arctic and Antarctic has to do with us and they believe it will not affect us. It will affect us and the information and education process required to convince people of the need for action is urgent. There is a necessity to convince people that a do-nothing strategy is not viable and it will have significant implications on our quality of life and how priorities will be implemented by Government in order to deal with potentially savage outturns if nothing is done to change policy.

I was disappointed with the speech of Minister of State, Deputy Michael Finneran, in that there was no mention of the 3% average reduction per annum target for greenhouse gases over the next five years set in the programme for Government. We have had no indication from the Government about what policies have been implemented and the success of those which are implemented. What is the result of the recent EPA studies with regard to reducing, or otherwise, greenhouse gas emissions as a result of Government policy?

I am not surprised as the targets are completely turned around at this stage, like the programme for Government itself. The biggest mistake the Green Party made before getting into bed with Fianna Fáil was not asking the question of whether that party would respect the Green Party in the morning. It did not ask if the Green Party would respect itself in the morning, or if Green Party supporters would respect it because the party is not achieving anything in Government related to this significant issue. We heard so much about it from the Green Party before the general election.

Now the Green Party is in Government, the devil will be in the detail, action and results of what we are achieving.

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