Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

In the energy sector there is a similar international crisis which has been a long time coming. We received warnings in the 1970s and 1980s, but did not heed them. China and India required steel, oil and other energy resources. Eventually the demand for basic commodities started to push inflation upwards which, in turn, triggered the financial crisis and there was no longer any cheap and easy money available. It was an international phenomenon and it was the same here at home. Let us be honest with each other. We bought bigger cars because of the status they gave, built bigger houses with any number of bedrooms and bathrooms, regardless of how they were to be heated. We flew to New York and, effectively, turned Madison Avenue into Grafton Street.

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