Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all Members who spoke on the motion. This is a very important debate. There is a great deal of consensus, notwithstanding very sharp differences on some issues. I am reminded of the late Brian Lenihan, who memorably stated that the only fair tax was the one that he did not have to pay. In introducing the concept of carbon pricing, there is a danger that people will want something for which someone else will pay or should be shouldering the burden, rather than the group for which they speak. The sad reality is that no one can afford to say that these changes should be borne by someone else and not by them. Everyone must make these changes. That is a difficulty in dealing with this issue.

Each household will have to change how it manages energy in the home in order to move away from fossil fuels. For many homes, that process will be neither quick nor easy. Each of us will have to think about how we manage our resources and our approach to disposables which have become commonplace in terms of plastic, food and many other items. We must change our approach on such matters and that will not come easily to people. We must change the way we manage our travel: the amount of travelling we do, the mode of transport we use and the types of fuels we use. That will be a profound change involving an increase in the cost of travel and for some people it will come very hard. We will have to change how we run our farms. Many farmers have been farming in the same way for decades and it will be difficult for them to make the necessary changes. We will have to change how we run our businesses. We must accept that there will be more wind farms and more associated interconnectors and infrastructure being built in or close to people's backyards. None of those things will come easy.

I am very conscious that as well as declaring that this is crucially important and urgent, we are asking people to make profound and difficult changes to the way they live. That is not easy and it cannot be solved in Kildare Street. Rather, it will be solved in every home, village, community, business and farm in the country. We must find a way to bring those people into that engagement and help them to make the necessary changes.

It will not be possible for the taxpayer to pay for everything. It is not a question of the Government opening the purse and everything suddenly being possible. We will have to continue to fund our health and education services and all of the very heavy priorities that fall to the Government and the House to find the resources to fund. That is why our advisers such as the members of the Climate Change Advisory Council, who know this issue intimately, have put forward carbon pricing as one of the measures we must consider. As some Members may be aware, I trained as an economist. One of the first lessons an economist learns is that much of what we do has an adverse impact on people, but for which we do not pay. Carbon emissions are the worst case of that - we simply have not been paying for the damage we have done. There are many other examples, as Members have pointed out, such as the headlong rush to flatten our hedgerows and create big open tracts to plough and so on, which has done significant damage about which no one thought at the time and for which no one has paid.

We are asking people to make big changes. The easy part is for the Members who are present to say we endorse these things and that this is an emergency. It is correct to do so, but the hard part will be for all sides of the political community to find a way to bring people to make those changes in order to protect the globe for which we all have a shared responsibility. We will have to find a way to work through our ideological differences. We do so every day in the House - we reach compromises, vote and debate. We accept some things and are disappointed that other things are not accepted. That is what we will have to do on this issue.

This is the start of a very important process. I hope to be able to inject additional momentum to that generated by Deputy Naughton, the committee, the Citizens' Assembly and all involved, and that, year by year, we will be able to show that we are winning this battle. The early wins we get will encourage people to come further down the road, take the issue more seriously and get engaged on it. What very much inspires me is that at the end of this process we will have a better country in which to live and a healthier relationship with one another, our environment and those who share the globe with us. That is a prize that is well worth the effort we will undertake. We will continue to have our differences in this Chamber. There is no doubt that I will be criticised for whatever I do or fail to do, and that is as it should be.

Hopefully, we can conduct the political debate in which we must engage through the common ground that has been created by the committee and our willingness to sit in the same forum, discuss this and try to reach compromise solutions in respect of the difficult challenges ahead, and continue to move in that spirit.

I thank everybody who has been involved in this. They come from different backgrounds but they still stuck with it. Some felt the need to write minority reports, but they persevered and fully engaged. Deputy Hildegarde Naughton had the challenge of keeping that together and getting something valuable at the end. I am grateful for the opportunity to conclude the debate and I look forward to returning to the House in the not-too-distant future with solid proposals that will advance the cause set out here.

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