Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

At the outset the Deputy said reasonably that he was in favour of renewables to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels and accelerate the departure from a reliance on fossil fuels to renewables. He cannot say this, on the one hand, and, on the other, say he wants a moratorium on development of renewables. The planning system is immensely rigorous. Everybody has known for a number of years about our 2020 mandatory targets and we are confident that we can deliver on them. I am not sure whether there is a great deal of uncertainty. There is, undoubtedly, genuine concern, but there is a good deal of deliberate misrepresentation. I am sorry about this because trade is the lifeblood of the economy. This is a small economy which depends on trade and selling things to other member states and countries to earn a living. We must continue to build trade links and open new markets for products and services from this economy. That is the way we generate wealth and create jobs.

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