David Norris (Independent)

He told me that washing machines last for only five years, after which they are expected to conk out. I saw a programme recently in which it was stated that television sets provide good value for only approximately two years. I have sets going back to the 1960s, including a black and white 12-inch set in the kitchen, which still adequately receives the RTE television news while I am washing the dishes.

I am a prudent old Protestant and am old enough to remember when, on fashionable Nassau Street, there was a very good umbrella shop called Johnsons. It also re-covered them and replaced their spokes. However, that has gone, as have all similar enterprises. While I am lucky enough to have found a decent cobbler in my neighbourhood, most cobblers have vanished. Many of them have gone out of business because of increasing rents. I managed to get my old Roberts radio repaired last week in a shop in Aungier Street or Camden Street. It was almost the last radio repair shop in Dublin and it closed down last Friday. This disposable culture is a mistake.

I had a slight difficulty with the mobile telephone that the taxpayer kindly gave to me. It is a beautiful Nokia telephone about which I know nothing and I took it to a major retailer on Grafton Street. The assistant informed me that it could not be repaired and that even if it could, it would cost €450. The retailer gave me an upgrade at the cheap rate of €150. When I asked what would happen to my old telephone he replied that he would shove it in the bin. Luckily, I told my friend Tevfik and he was outraged. He pointed out that the telephone I had was the best on the market and told me to return immediately to the shop and retrieve it from the wastepaper basket, which I did. He told me it was the best telephone available and that it was being withdrawn because it was so good. Such telephones did not get damaged, enjoyed roaming facilities and so on. After fishing it out we found a Congolese shop. While such people may be poor and live on the margins, they knew what to do and managed to repair it for €20, which was fantastic. This issue of wastefulness lies behind the damage being done to the environment.

The Kyoto limits on carbon emissions have already been considerably exceeded by Ireland, which has been described as a delinquent. The European Environment Agency has stated that our transport emissions, excluding marine and aviation, grew by a staggering 140%. This is nothing to boast about and Ireland is among the worst polluters. However, like a drunk driver who breaks a red light, totals his car and perhaps fatally injures a pedestrian, we seem to be taking the view that as we have paid the fine, it is all right. However, this is not the case and we have made a mess. In terms of climate change, it is not simply the polluter who will pay as the entire planet will be forced to pay the price for the irresponsibility of world industry and world leaders.

Behind this issue there is not just an elephant in the room, but a tyrannosaurus rex in the middle of the floor. I refer to the population explosion.