Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

Its ring tone is creating quite a nice rhythm. I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on this matter. We must take immediate steps to introduce legislation in respect of climate change. It is three years since the Green Party came to power and had a commitment relating to climate change included in the original programme for Government. That is far too long a period for action not to have been taken. When the current Seanad was first convened three years ago, Senator Bacik introduced a Bill on climate change which remains on the Order Paper. Unfortunately, the House has still to conclude its deliberations on that legislation. Senator Bacik had hoped to contribute to this important debate but owing to the unforeseen break in Seanad proceedings, she cannot be present because she has another engagement. The Senator asked me to pass on her apologies.

There is a need for immediate action in respect of climate change. The recession may have slowed things down but time is not on our side. We cannot afford to sit back while the recession rages because the threat posed by global warming will not go away. In October, the Joint Committee on Climate Change and Energy Security published its Second Report on Climate Change Law, which sets out the statutory framework that will be required in this area and which has all-party support. I commend my colleague, Deputy McManus, on her contribution, as rapporteur, to the work of the joint committee and to ensuring the report was published.

I welcome the recognition given in the report to the role agriculture can play in providing bio-fuels and biomass crops. Promoting green energy measures is one way of harnessing the natural resources at our disposal to help combat the effects of climate change and create much needed employment. The potential benefits are far too large to ignore and if we act immediately and introduce favourable legislation to support the creation of a green economy, Ireland could become a world leader. We all have a part to play in this regard.

There is a high level of unemployment in County Meath which is in the commuter belt and has suffered more than most counties. There are particularly high levels of unemployment among those aged under 25 years and we need to offer new ideas on how we can get them back to work. The green economy offers one way of doing this. I am working to increase awareness of how counties such as County Meath could benefit from the creation of jobs in the green sector and next Thursday night I will host a seminar in Ashbourne to examine the potential of the sector. We will consider things like how local farmers could benefit from the green economy and how business people and the community at large could help to create jobs in wind energy projects, community wind farms and the production of biomass fuels.

I was in Copenhagen last December during the climate change convention. I attended one session to discuss how sheep farmers in north Wales had got together to form a co-operative to examine the possibility of establishing community wind farms. They had managed to erect three wind turbines in the neighbourhood which provide electricity for 1,600 homes. They are now planning on expanding the project to provide even more turbines to cater for up to 7,000 homes. This shows that local people, acting as a community, can make things happen.

At one of the sessions at my seminar next week participants will explore how local communities in places such as Ashbourne can come together to address their own energy needs in a way that helps the environment. To help them in their efforts we need to introduce legislation to ensure there will be no barriers to allow farmers, businesses and communities succeed in their efforts. The opportunity to create employment is one not to be missed as the jobs created are often at the higher end. We have an abundance of natural resources which can help us to meet our energy requirements.

There is no reason, given our favourable climate, that we cannot become a net exporter of green energy, resulting in even higher levels of economic activity and lower energy emissions, both of which are within the terms of the report of the joint committee. The Minister of State will be aware that work on the interconnector between Ireland and the United Kingdom is under way. The interconnefctor will cross my constituency of Meath and will help us in ensuring energy security and a sufficient supply will be available at all times of the day and night.

With regard to the medium and long-term targets and the key measures needed to meet them, we have made very little progress in meeting the goals to which we signed up at Kyoto a number of years ago. We need to reaffirm our commitment to achieving these goals and legally binding targets. The British have introduced legislation to overcome this problem in a very short timeframe. They have a legally binding target of achieving an 80% reduction in carbon emissions within the next 40 years and I call for a similar target to be set here.

Others have mentioned the transport sector which accounts for 20% of our emissions. We, therefore, need to examine how we manage our transport infrastructure. I welcome the recent opening of the Dublin to Dunboyne railway line. We need to consider very carefully how we can further extend the service to places such as Dunshaughlin and Navan. We also need to consider increasing the frequency and speed of the Dublin to Belfast rail service. Engineers Ireland issued a report earlier this year in which it suggested the population along the east coast from Dublin to Belfast would double within the next 20 years. To make sure we can cater for such an increase and grow economic activity, we need to have better transport links. Public transport services are the answer. Therefore, the Government needs to consider how we can increase the frequency and speed on the service mentioned.

We also have to be careful about where we spend our money on transport infrastructure. I am not convinced on the need for projects such as metro north because I have yet to see a cost benefit analysis. I hear figures being bandied about this and the other House that suggest the ratio will be 2:1. If that is true, it is not bad, but I would like to see some figures. I do not buy the line from the Government that the figures are too sensitive to be given and that it will produce a redacted report. We need to see the full figures. Before we head down the road of spending vast amounts of money on the project, we need to be sure it is the best way of spending money. It must not be seen as a Famine road project. While we need to spend money on infrastructure and increase the public transport infrastructure in place, we need to spend money in a cost-effective way. It may be the case there could be a guided bus system or improvements could be made to the quality bus network. I am not sure, but I am sure that we have not yet seen a convincing case being made for the metro north project, something on which the Government has not moved forward.

Setting legally binding targets would have the advantage of creating certainty for businesses. Improvements to public transport infrastructure would help us to meet legally binding targets and mean businesses would have confidence to invest in equipment which is often expensive and will yield long-term benefits in terms of cost and protection of the environment, as demonstrated in the recent letter from the Irish corporate groups which pressed the Taoiseach to introduce climate change legislation. The Bill needs to be brought forward as quickly as possible. My party tabled an amendment to the Order of Business four weeks ago today to allow us to debate the introduction of climate change legislation. On that date the Minister of State's colleague, the Deputy Leader, Senator Boyle, told us, "The heads of the Bill have been largely agreed. There is one area of disagreement which appears to relate to who is responsible for what. I am confident this disagreement can be overcome in the next fortnight or so. I am stating my personal frustration on this matter." We are two weeks beyond his sell-by date. Does the Minister of State have any words which might sooth or calm him in this regard in terms of the introduction of climate change legislation?