Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I welcome the Minister to the House. I had an interesting day yesterday. I spent the day in Brussels at a meeting of 40 or 50 supermarket operators and retailers with Mr. Vinois who heads the unit implementing AngelaMerkel's proposals. He reminded me ofRoosevelt who stated, "Speak softly but carry a big stick". Mr. Vinois stated what he wanted to achieve and we stated we would do our best to achieve it for him. However, it was clear if we do not do our best and achieve it he has a big stick which he will use.

The reason I support the motion is that I do not believe we implemented the plan we have. I was interested to hear the Minister report what was achieved. However, we are failing in many ways. One can twist statistics and measure it in other ways. We have not met anything like the targets we must. We set out a strategy and plan and we have the economics to work at the same time. However, the Minister is in danger of making a mistake because the challenge is far greater than we think. The Government made a cynical calculation about public attitudes to private change. I believe it decided the majority of people did not really care about it. It believed the general public was incensed about many other issues, such as those mentioned by Senator Brady. The public is annoyed about traffic congestion and the price of houses and child care, but the Government made a cold calculation that not many people would care very much about climate change.

This is the reason the strategy does not get implemented, as the Government believes the people do not require real action to be taken with this problem. It believes people will be satisfied there is a plan in place, and they will not look beyond this to see if action is flowing from the plan. The Government may be correct in its calculation of how the public thinks, but although it may be correct, it is certainly not right.

It is not the job of Government simply to satisfy the short-term needs and desires of the public. Many would argue that the Government's most important job is to look into the future and prepare the country for the eventualities beyond the horizon. It is not a matter of responding to publicity expressing immediate needs, but one of identifying long-term threats and opportunities to prepare the country to meet them in the best possible way. That is the fundamental role of Government and a Government failing to live up to the challenge will be harshly judged in the cold, unforgiving light of history.

One of the most important issues arising from the very interesting meeting yesterday was the discussion about energy in Europe. We are in danger of relying on energy coming from outside Europe and Ireland is most at risk of all the European countries because we produce very little of our own energy. What happens if Russia decides to cut off its energy supply, as it did to the Ukraine earlier this year? We would find ourselves without sources of oil, yet we have not developed anything to solve the problem that may arise. There is a danger the lights could go out.

We had to install generators in the company I ran for many years because we had a memory of 20 or 30 years ago when on a number of occasions the power went out, usually due to ESB power failures or strikes. We have forgotten that blackouts occur. We have been very fortunate that they have not happened in recent years and I offer congratulations to all who have managed to maintain that record.

We read of what happened in Italy some years ago, as well as in the United States and Canada three or four years ago. We realise there is a danger we could lose our power and we therefore must take significant steps to prevent that happening. The reason we would do this does not relate solely to climate change but because there is not enough energy being produced. Every time we ignore that threat we are in danger of being placed in that scenario.

Senator Ryan spoke of how the transportation of goods around the country should be moved from road to rail. That is an interesting challenge of which I have not thought previously. I have been on the M50 and other motorways recently and was amazed at the number of trucks on the road. Does the Minister realise half of these trucks are empty?