Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

In regard to carbon tax and VRT, again the Minister has left it too late. We must reduce our emissions to 63 million tonnes of carbon to meet our Kyoto commitments. When did the Minister find out about that? Was it yesterday? Currently we are at 70 million, yet it is only now the Minister talks about climate change and changing VRT. It is as if the Government woke up yesterday morning only to be told we are supposed to reduce our emissions to 63 million tonnes in the next four or five years.

The €13 million for investment in wave power research and development will not make a huge difference. If we are serious about the issue we must be proactive in terms of what we are to do about it. The Government will be borrowing money next year to buy carbon credits because we failed to deal with our commitments to reducing our carbon footprint. Unless the Green Party comes up with some means of dealing with cattle expressing methane in the fields of Ireland, this country will face a serious crisis.

I wish I had more time to deal with the serious concerns about the health service, the educational services and all the other promises made. Whether it is medical cards, new hospitals or new schools we will see a serious reduction in the next few years unless the Government faces up to one responsibility. It must start the reform that has been talked about for so long. It must make everybody accountable in that regard and we might just save enough money to invest properly in our public services because the same amount of money will not be available in the coming years.