Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to have an opportunity to speak on this Bill. Apropos of the comments of Deputy Fitzmaurice, there are two views in respect of climate change and global warming. He remarked on several things that are not popular nowadays, particularly in a country that is dependent on agriculture. That is why we need to have a little balance in the whole debate. It is true that if we lived in an industrial environment that was not reliant on fossil fuels, it would be great. Unfortunately, we do not, but we can move towards it and move towards balance. Unfortunately, unless we get the balance required we are going to pay an economic price, because we will be faced with carbon fines. They will impact throughout the globe in several years time. This is coming faster than we thought.

Deputy Fitzmaurice makes an interesting point in respect of land or river drainage. It is simple. It is an engineering fact going back 2,000 years to the time of Archimedes. He was able to come to conclusions on that matter long ago. However, we have gone away from that completely in the intervening period. Effectively, Deputy Fitzmaurice was saying that everyone should revel in the idea of living in a floodplain or a swamp, but it does not and cannot work that way. We know that a great deal of deforestation is taking place throughout the globe, especially in Latin America and in rain forests. There is no doubt that this is having an effect. Whether we like it, there is scientific evidence indicating to us now that there is an obligation on us to do something, make our contribution and put our money on the table.

People talk about how the built environment is causing terrible climate change. It is, in the sense to which Deputy Fitzmaurice adverted. Every time we put down a sheet of concrete or a roof, it moves the water from one place to another and this requires drainage. It is as simple as that. Some countries throughout the globe have discovered that and they use it all the time. As I said before, the Romans discovered that much several thousand years ago and they were able to deal with it. How has it taken us so long to realise that? There are river basins in this country that have not been touched for 60 or 70 years, and, in some cases, they have never been touched. As a result of modern fertilisers and the growth of vegetation, more trees fall into rivers and streams and more blockages arise on an annual basis than ever before. We need to do something about that.

I want to look at something else.

The critics will tell us that the use of concrete in construction is lethal and is doing severe damage, when in fact, in terms of carbon emissions, it is not the use of concrete that does this, but the methodology used in the industrial process that creates it. If the process is powered by nuclear energy, for example, there are no emissions at all. It has absolutely nothing to do with creating carbon emissions. If it is done by wave energy or wind energy, there are no emissions. That is just a fact of life. There are notions that everything that is burned causes emissions. We are told what to burn in our grates, and we must be careful when we do that as we move into the future. However, ordinary wood is completely carbon-neutral provided it does not go through an industrial process. Once it goes through an industrial process, it immediately creates carbon because of the use of fossil fuels in the process. The critical issue is how we carry out the industrial process and what fuel is used.

We have to embark on doing our share. I do not agree with the notion that we have to save the planet. There was a party in here a few years ago and they were busily saving the planet. It did not work, I can tell the House.

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