Brendan Ryan (Labour)

Probably. There is no doubt there are extraordinary vested interests in many areas. I am concerned that unless the Government — any Government — has an absolute conviction that this is a reality and that it will have an overwhelmingly negative impact on how we and the planet live over the next 50 years, there will not be the political will to do what is necessary.

What I hope was one of my more rational criticisms of the present Government is that when it landed in office in 1997, it was the first Opposition to have entered Government and inherited a boom on such a scale. However, it sat there for approximately five years, unable to believe its luck as money flowed into the coffers through no major decision of the Government.