Déirdre de Búrca (Green Party)

As the second speaker for the Green Party, I second the motion before the House. It is timely for us to debate such a motion, which calls on Seanad Éireann to recognise the importance of the development of green technology for economic growth. Given the current economic conditions we are experiencing, our case is all the more compelling. Even before the crisis became as deep and obvious as it now is, important factors had arisen such as rising energy costs, more environmentally conscious consumers, and our obligations under the Kyoto protocol. All of these combined to create real opportunities for green enterprise, thus promoting significant economic growth. We are all aware of the need to reduce our carbon footprint and to create a low-carbon economy. Rather than considering this as something that will depress or inhibit economic growth, these challenges should be seen as opening doors to new business opportunities for companies across the island of Ireland. We are facing difficult economic times, but it is more important than ever that we should focus on areas of potential where Ireland is well placed to compete, thus winning new markets.

Green enterprise clearly will be a valuable part of the long-term economic development of this country. Towards this end, the Government has established a high level group to develop an action plan for the development of green enterprise. That is a welcome development because we need a concerted approach to optimise the opportunities in this area.

Co-operation between Irish companies and research institutes across the island will be important in order to deliver technology and process advances that will be key in this sector. A number of studies have indicated that the value of the environmental services sector was in excess of $600 billion worldwide in 2005. It is likely to exceed $700 billion by 2010 and $800 billion by 2015. In Ireland's case, research and development will be an important part of stimulating economic growth in this area. Unfortunately this island has displayed low levels of research and development investment in the environmental services sector and this needs to be addressed. While some companies that become involved in the environmental services-green enterprise-green technology sector will continue to trade locally, there are also opportunities for Irish companies in emerging international markets and this should be encouraged. Our strong information and communications technology base, our green credentials and our past experience in attracting foreign direct investment should be to our advantage in attracting the same investment for this sector. However, it will require a targeted approach focusing on niche areas with the highest potential. The sub-sectors which we regard as having the greatest potential include renewable energy, efficient energy use and management, and eco-construction. The area of waste management recovery and recycling is also very promising, as is water and waste water treatment. Towards this end, public procurement policies will have a very important role to play in stimulating and fostering the development and adoption of new environmental goods and services. The education sector will also be central to developing skills to address the future growth of this sector.

Research will be very important and also the continued implementation of environmental legislation which will provide the regulatory certainty needed for enterprises to invest in this sector. The process of what is known in Europe as environmental fiscal reform will be very important and the carbon levy which the Green Party secured as part of the programme for Government is only one element of a wider programme of environmental fiscal reform which would be very useful in terms of promoting growth opportunities in this area.

There is a need for companies interested in becoming involved in the area of green technology and green enterprise to be able to access start-up and growth finance and this is especially true of small firms. Measures to improve seedcorn financing and remove market failures in the access of finance for these firms will continue to be important and will require attention from Government.

Given the financial crisis, many private venture capitalists who up to now may have been very enthusiastic about investing in huge green technology projects are now becoming more cautious and are scaling back that willingness to become involved. We must regard this sector as having the potential to provide the impetus to pull the global economy out of the slump. The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, recently referred to what he described as the green New Deal which he believed could rebuild and reshape the global economy in ways reminiscent of President Roosevelt's New Deal to revitalise the economy of the United States during the Great Depression. There could be a green response to this global economic crisis. The world economy needs a new economic driver. In the 1990s, the Internet and the network economy was the economic driver and this was before the dotcom bubble burst. The economic driver for this decade was the financial sector so we now need a new economic driver. The area of green technology and green enterprise provides a potential driver but the role of government will be central and public investment and fiscal incentives will be necessary to lay the groundwork to try to entice the private sector. There is a role for State intervention to redirect the market. Initiatives such as tax credits, direct Government spending and loan guarantees will be very important.

The Green Party has been stressing the challenge presented by the threat of climate change but it is often difficult to get governments to respond to this challenge. This motion points out the economic growth potential of the green technology sector but also the jobs potential. In 2008 the promise of jobs will be a stronger incentive to governments to go green than the threat of ice caps melting and coastal cities drowning. Unemployment in the eurozone is expected to rise from 11.3 million to 14.5 million by the end of next year, pushing the rate up from 7.5% to 9%. In the US the rate of unemployment is 6.1% but it is expected to push towards 8% by the end of 2009, the highest in 25 years.

In light of the US presidential elections, it is interesting that both presidential candidates strongly stressed green initiatives in their campaigns. The President-elect, Senator Barack Obama, was among the more ambitious of the candidates. He said he will strategically invest $150 billion over the next ten years in a clean energy economy that will help the private sector to create 5 million new good, green jobs that cannot be outsourced. He also spoke of accelerating the commercialisation of plug-in hybrid cars, promoting renewable energy projects, encouraging energy efficiency, investing in low emission coal plants and advancing the next generation of bio-fuels. He wants to create a programme to train American war veterans to work in green industries and to modernise factories to make green products.

Our motion is very timely and I second the motion and encourage other Senators to support it.