Déirdre de Búrca (Green Party)

Will the Leader invite the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, to the House? We could raise a number of important matters with him. One concerns the disappointing signals emerging from the negotiations on the climate change agreement for the Copenhagen meeting, which is scheduled for December. An international climate change treaty is now very unlikely to emerge from the Copenhagen meeting and instead a series of political decisions will chart the way forward. That is very disappointing and I would like the Minister to appear in this House to tell us the view of the Irish Government on this matter.

A sticking point in these negotiations was the extent of international aid to be given to developing countries and who would administer the aid. It is disappointing because, after intense negotiations to try to arrive at a consensus before the meeting is held in Copenhagen, those concerned about climate change were hoping a legally binding global climate change agreement would emerge from the meeting. It appears the resolve is weakening and I would like to ask the Minister for his views on this issue and what the Government might do.

If the Minister appears in the House, I would also like to ask him his views on the Dublin Docklands Development Authority. I saw some disturbing headlines in the newspaper today indicating that Mr. Bernard McNamara, the developer, is looking for the Dublin Docklands Development Authority to guarantee his exposure. He is being sued for €140 million as one of the purchasers of the Irish Glass Bottle site in Ringsend at a purchase price of more than €424 million. This site has fallen in value to approximately one sixth of that price. Mr. McNamara said that-----