Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister to the House. This is an interesting debate. The whole concept of climate change and the broader debate on energy security has taken off over the past 12 months to two years. Virtually every citizen in the country has some knowledge of the climate change issue and everybody expresses great concern and hope that the Government at domestic level and internationally and the UN and other groups can make progress. However, that is easier said than done. From an international perspective, if one looks at what is happening in the US with the presidential election campaign, which is very engaging, climate change or energy security is not high on the agenda.