Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Power, to the House. Energy use and sustainability is an issue that will become ever more pressing in the near future. In this regard, per capita carbon emissions in Ireland are the second highest in Europe. Between 1990 and 2005, Ireland was one of the five top European countries for experiencing an increase in carbon emissions, the others being Spain, Greece, Austria and Italy. We need to improve quickly on this because it is evident that climate change is already having a noticeable effect and a detrimental impact on our climate.

Our seasons have changed. We are experiencing summers and winters that are warmer than ever before. Eleven out of the last 12 summers have been the hottest in over 150 years. In fact, six of the ten warmest summers on record have happened since 1990. In Ireland's new winters frost and snow are being substituted by rain due to the warmer temperatures. Essentially, it is getting warmer and also wetter.

As a nation, we have done little to reverse these trends. If we do nothing, it will get worse. The continued change in our weather systems will end up leading to a dramatic shift in the way we run our agriculture sector, for instance, and that will happen within the next 30 years. Hotter, drier summers will drastically affect any efforts we are making to reforest more of the island. Importantly, water supplies, especially in urban areas, will come under unprecedented pressure.

While we continually debate this issue, the reality is that there is no structure, plan or strategy to deal with this. That is worrying. It cannot be denied that this is likely to happen sooner rather than later and the Government has no ideas on how to improve the situation.

The Minister of State, Deputy Seán Power, stated that it is over two years since the greener homes scheme was introduced. However, in that time there have been few new ideas coming from the Government. Apart from the introduction of some building regulations, the commissioning of studies is all that seems to be happening. Therefore, I am disinclined to congratulate the Government on favouring renewable energy sources over fossil fuels because it is not evident they are doing so.

Despite having read an extract from the programme for Government, I am still in the dark as to what exactly are its policies on energy and renewable energy. There appear to be three main pillars dealing with the topic of energy in Ireland in the programme for Government; one pillar deals with the security of supply of energy, the second deals with the competitiveness of our energy market and the third deals with the environmental sustainability of our energy use. In all three pillars I cannot find a single commitment that takes us steadily, safely and sustainably away from fossil fuels.

In the security of supply section, the programme for Government mentions efficiency and availability of energy. It refers to a reliable energy network that works for consumers. The section on competitiveness is also fairly open, referring to the single electricity market and an intention to maintain a State-owned infrastructure for electricity and gas.

I turned to the section on environmental sustainability thinking I might find something of substance, but all I got was waffle, with lots of sugary, syrupy words about saving energy and resources. There is not one commitment in it. There is no leadership on the issue of sustainability and there are no guarantees on introducing any new policies to deal with this matter.

There is no commitment to move to sustainability in the transport sector. Instead the Government will promote the idea. There is no leadership in changing the way homes are powered or built. Instead, there is vague talk of incentivising people to move to greener homes. There is no guarantee of rapid investment and development of existing energy technology, such as wind energy. Instead the Government will keep this area "under examination". There is no commitment, leadership or guarantees.

If ever there was a time when we needed real leadership, it is now. The best estimates point to our reaching peak oil in four years, by 2012. At that point Ireland will be in a very dangerous situation. In 2004, we used 9 million tonnes of oil, which is almost a doubling of oil use in 14 years. Ireland is ranked third highest among EU states in use of oil per head of population, which is dangerous for food supplies and electricity production and means there is a danger we will not be able to satisfy our transport needs.

We need to hear less waffle and more about firm commitments and guarantees. How will the Government tackle the approach of peak oil? What will it do to tackle our dependancy on fossil fuels and foreign oil? When will it actively promote and develop clean energy? I will vote against the Government's motion as I cannot vote for a policy that does not exist.