John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

I seek a debate on the green economy. We know the Americans have outlined this as an area for growth. Substantial funds will be dedicated to the green economy, in which case many new developments will take place in that area. This country is ideally placed as an island off the west coast of Europe with wonderful capacity for tidal or wind energy that we could transmit to the rest of Europe. Now is the time, when Europe is claiming competence in this area, to seek European Union funding on a major scale so that we can feed in as a back-up. How fortunate we would have been if we could have provided a back-up to the lack of gas supply to central and eastern Europe to supply heat to those homes in a perilous situation with temperatures of -20°C. This would be positive for Europe and the back-up is needed. There is a presentation on the green economy at 4 p.m. in audio-visual room. This would be well worth visiting.