Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)

I thank Deputy Tuffy for affording me some time. It is welcome that we are having this debate and it is good that the carbon budget has been introduced to this House. It smacks of tokenism when one Minister is present in the House when the big task facing this Government and those following it will be tackling climate change. Departments that have a direct responsibility are not being represented. The Ministers for Transport; Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; and Enterprise, Trade and Employment are not here. The Taoiseach should be here as well.

Unless we have a significant shift in the Government on the issue we will not reach our targets. We will have debates, point out matters and have agreements and disagreements but it will not happen. The Greens used to use the term "transformational approach" and that is what we need. This is not it.

I welcome the publication of the Bill's framework and there are some good parts to it. I welcome that there will be a climate change committee which will draw on expertise and that fuel poverty has been mentioned, as it is central to how we approach the issue. The problem lies in the political sphere; this is about leadership and management. I cannot find within the framework document any indication that the lesson has been learned.

Responsibility will still lie with the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government but he or she is just one Minister. The big problem is that the Minister will not have authority over other Departments. The structure that all the parties on the joint Oireachtas committee support is the idea of a transformational piece of legislation where the Taoiseach will take charge and manage the project in a coherent way.

I hope it is not the case but there seems to be a real danger that the Minister feels this is his area and he must hold on to it no matter what. That is not the way of the world anymore. I will never take from the Green Party its role as a pioneer in this area but this country will not play its part internationally unless we transform the way we govern ourselves regarding climate change. This is not set out in the framework Bill and that must be addressed. I would love it to be otherwise, but it will not happen.

No Member, including the Minister, has had enough time to make his or her contribution, even though this is a central political issue, and this also needs to be addressed. The figures in the appendix to the carbon budget are valuable. Carbon emissions were expected to reduce because of the recession but that has not happened to the extent anticipated, which is a pity because we do have to deal with the issue. However, the central issue is how we transform our society across the board to ensure we have a low carbon economy whether Ireland is experiencing growth or a recession. I have great concerns, having only given the document a cursory glance, about the revised projection for gross emissions between 2008 and 2012 because it is way in excess of our emissions in 1990. This reflects myopia, a lack of confidence and a failure to grasp the core issue if we are to make the transformation we need.

The problem does not lie with Fianna Fáil. There is a readiness, which may not come naturally, that was not present previously in the larger party, to grasp the nettle but the Green Party is not pushing. The Green Party used to push all of us, which was great, but it has given up pushing and has settled for second best. I wish I did not have to say this because we must work together to meet this challenge but the proposed Bill is more of the same. I welcome wholeheartedly the few changes it provides for but in terms of political management and administration and turning the tanker around, whether it is in the difficult sectors such as transport, agriculture, enterprise and even education, a different structure and new form of governance are needed., which we have not had previously. However, we have partially applied different structures to meet major challenges such as that in Northern Ireland in the past. I urge the Minister to have courage regarding what must be done because he will have support from every party if he demonstrates the necessary courage to bring about that transformation.

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