Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)

The singular failure of the Government and the failure of politics at the moment is the failure to create jobs in this country. The fact is that in the region of 437,000 people are out of work and 60,000 young people emigrated last year. Those statistics are frightening. They are a shocking indictment of what we are doing. For that reason I support the proposition by Senator Ó Brolcháin that we have a full debate on green technologies, green energy and green solutions to the jobs crisis.

There is great potential for jobs in wind energy. We could become a net exporter of energy. There is also great potential for jobs in wave energy. There is further potential for jobs on the 100,000 acres of fallow land that could be used for the production of bio-fuels by farmers. That potential exists at national level.

At a more local level communities can come together in the same way as the co-operatives of old to put in place microgenerators. More grant aid could be provided for insulation and solar panels. A huge amount could be done to create jobs. If one does not create jobs, one does not generate economic activity or revenue and one will never restart the economy. I urge the acting Leader to set aside a minimum of one day - a number of days if possible - to discuss in a focused way how we can create jobs from the green energy sector. That area could become a net creator of jobs and we could become net exporters of energy. The rising cost of oil and the finite supply thereof makes this an imperative.