Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Other issues raised at the Council related to future energy policy and jobs and growth. How can these possibly develop in the economic environment that now pertains throughout the EU and with the level of debt in so many countries, even larger countries like France which has a debt to GDP ratio of approximately 93%? How can we have the kind of fiscal expansion required into areas that will deliver on a carbon neutral economy without investing in retrofitting housing, developing an offshore energy industry and upgrading public transport to a beneficial level? How can we square that circle?

I am looking at this from an Irish perspective, but we could make a similar case for most other European countries. How can we live up to the obligations we have signed up to in terms of being carbon neutral in the future while being so hamstrung by the level of debt? Does the Minister not believe that a debt conference is critical so that we can examine the issues more completely, rather than to look at the issues from the point of view of debt? Should we not look at how we can grow in a different way in the future?

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