Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)

I listened with interest to the views of Senators on the economy and the challenges that lie ahead. It is important we can express our views. I know the Leader takes those views on board and it is important we are constructive in our debate on the economy. Our track record on this side of the House attests to that. We have always been constructive in protecting the economy and we have stood by the State on economic issues.

We are now facing challenges in climate change, given the demanding targets we have set ourselves for the next ten years. We need to debate those targets and the impact they will have on our economy. Three areas that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions in this country are transport, agriculture and industry. We need to get down to the fine detail on what impact emission reductions will have on those three areas. Senator Donohoe already mentioned the metro north project. If that is to go down the tubes, it will have an impact on how we are going to achieve our greenhouse emissions. We will continue to have high emissions from oil-burning vehicles.

The economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, which has huge potential for growth due to food security issues. Our agricultural sector contributes more than 20% of our total greenhouse gas emissions. We cannot put our agricultural sector at a disadvantage if we are to cut our emissions in this area because the EU depends on our food produce. Greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector across the EU are only 9% of the total amount, which is not too large. I would hate to see the agricultural sector in Ireland under threat owing to these targets. That is the type of detail we need to discuss in any debate on our economy. Food security is a significant issue, so we must also take that into account.

The Taoiseach heads up the Cabinet committee on climate change, so it would be interesting to hear the detail of the negotiations of Irish team, be they carbon credits or greenhouse gas emissions. I hope the impact on our economy will be taken into account in any debate on this issue.