Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

Of course, a number of other issues will remain, particularly if the number of vehicles we currently use is maintained and there was a complete transfer to that. The failure to put in place a strong public transport system would exacerbate the difficult situation with congestion, parking and other issues. Notwithstanding that, however, a high proportion of the population is rurally based. Even in the Acting Chairman, Deputy Michael Kennedy's, constituency, which is very near the city, there is a substantial rural area with small towns populated by people whose transport requirements are diverse. They sometimes require their own transport. In that situation it might be an enormous mistake to assume that our requirements for the provision of electricity will remain what they currently are. One of the interesting aspects of our current requirement for electricity is that the requirement on the lowest electricity usage day in mid-July is just about 50% of the requirement on the day of the highest usage. That is another challenge. It means one must provide twice as much electricity at a particular time.

The question of electricity generation is central to how we deal with climate change and our carbon emissions. It is something we must examine carefully not only with regard to electricity usage for domestic, industrial and commercial purposes but also with regard to the burden that may arise in the provision of transport. That is an immediate challenge which we must deal with very quickly.

I am delighted the programme for Government has put such strong emphasis on the forestry sector. It is a sector in which this country has enormous advantages. We have, perhaps, a double advantage because our level of afforestation was relatively low in 1992 when Kyoto was agreed. It has increased dramatically since then and, as a result, our capability for carbon sequestration is increased. We had planting levels of approximately 20,000 hectares per annum ten years ago but it is down to approximately 6,000 hectares per annum now. The programme for Government commits us to trying to increase it to above 10,000 hectares per annum. If we reach our target by 2020 of having 17% of the country afforested, it would be necessary to plant 25,000 hectares per annum. There is a strong case for arguing that it would be far better to invest resources in planting forestry, which has a carbon sequestration capability, than to spend it on carbon credits. In so far as possible, the country's aim should be to minimise the amount expended on purchasing carbon credits and to try to provide by whatever means necessary for self-sufficiency in that regard. Forestry is a very important element in that.

We also tend to forget that there have been some very successful campaigns. The Power of One campaign a few years ago, which was launched at a relatively early stage in people's consciousness of the impact of climate change, was driven by the Government and had a positive impact. It showed it is possible to have successful campaigns of this nature. I commend the Minister, Deputy Gormley, on his initiative on lightbulbs. It was instructive to see some of the responses, which were extraordinarily negative and not based on the facts.

I am also interested in the proposals coming from the Spirit of Ireland Group and its ideas, particularly for the generation of electricity. The group has done a huge amount of work. There are issues with access to the grid in some of the areas which have the most promising prospects. Deputy Ring will be aware that some of them are in his constituency. Fortunately, some of them are in mine and as there is a long history of electricity generation in Clare, there are very strong grid connections in the area, historically because of Ardnacrusha and more recently because of Moneypoint. There are strong proposals for the creation of pump storage facilities.

As Deputy O'Dowd said, there are many opportunities with regard to wind, wave and tidal energy. There is much experimenting taking place and we are trying to stay to the forefront in that regard. There are some great opportunities. Sometimes we view climate change as an entirely negative story but there are some very positive elements and good prospects for people who are first with developments. We are trying to develop that.

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