Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

With all due respect to the Minister that is not the case if one looks at the recent primary elections and studies the post voting reasons as to why people voted for particular candidates. I wish they had indicated that environment issues were higher up on the agenda. As they have not done so I can only go on the data that is available. I concede that in the Australian election some weeks ago it did appear that the offer of the Australian Labor Party to make progress in environmental issues did make a difference. I welcome that.

If one looks at great world problems such as poverty and, indeed, peace and war and nuclear deterrents over the years, there has always been great commitments of the apple pie and motherhood variety but the progress afterwards has not been as much as we would expect. A great deal of pressure will need to be applied by governments such as the Irish Government to ensure the international community can respond. We have to be realistic and acknowledge that in the broader sense our efforts domestically will be a drop in the ocean but we must still try to do the best we can. The problem is global, it is international and the solution will have to come from there. I welcome the Government's initiative on what is being done locally.

Senator Keaveney said earlier that today's solution suddenly becomes tomorrow's problem. We were all enthusiastic some time ago in regard to the issue of bio-fuel, yet when one looks at the other side of that equation one sees the threat caused to world food supplies by a sudden overnight conversion of food crops to energy. Senator O'Malley referred Irish agriculture from a broader perspective. A fact we have to be deeply concerned about is that during the past five years the world has consumed significantly more food than it has produced. It is not rocket science to know that equation cannot continue. There will not be a sudden move away from meat protein and meat production to an entirely vegetarian diet. The issue of food security, whether we like it, has to be part of the solution.

There is a crisis in world food production at present and there is no point in denying it. That causes its own problem when trying to deal with climate change and energy security. There is no point in having a perfect environment and a perfect world in which people can live if we cannot produce enough food to feed the world's population. There will always be the question of balance.

At home we have to look to the local authorities to become part of the solution. I am not sure how many local authorities have energy departments and energy officers. We have a fine energy office in Cork County Council, particularly in north Cork, with a dedicated energy department. Many people seeking planning permission go into the energy office and assess the various energy saving schemes and devices and can purchase them through the county council. That is helpful. It should be mandatory that every local authority would have an energy department or an energy officer who would liaise with people at an industrial and domestic level and help make the small changes that can help make the big difference.

The light bulb issue has been mentioned by a few speakers. It is a budget initiative and a good one in many ways. I am advised by some of my colleagues, including Senator John Paul Phelan who does not have the opportunity to speak, that from the point of view of certain uses of lighting the Minister's proposals would not save energy but may well be negative in its impact. In rooms where lights are lit infrequently, such as bathroom and toilet, the low energy bulbs, apparently, are not helpful and would use more energy than the normal bulb. All of these things have positives and negatives that we will have to examine. I look forward to the publication of the Finance Bill this afternoon to see if it provides for further incentives. We have made very disappointing progress with regard to wave power, wind farms and so on. Much greater tax reliefs and incentives will be necessary.

This debate must continue in the House and elsewhere. We must be realistic because while what we in Ireland can do is not huge in the global scheme, we must make a start. I wish the Minister well and hope we progress this very important issue as best we can.