Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)

I wish to ask the ambassador a question regarding the Kyoto Protocol. He indicated that America is responsible for 21% of emissions. There is a feeling here that Ireland contributes only a thimbleful of emissions in contrast to countries like America. He also stated that a survey revealed 19% of Americans worried a great deal about emission standards. That is a surprise in the context of the graphic images we see on television of the effects of climate change and what is happening in the Arctic and the Antarctic. To what degree does the ambassador think Americans will change their attitude to the Kyoto Protocol? Currently, the view is that they do not take it seriously and that President Bush has never taken it seriously.