Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)

By way of conclusion, I draw the attention of the House and the Minister of State to a particular matter. We all hope and aspire that agreement is reached and that the legal targets are established at Durban. If this legislation is passed in its present form, we could tie our hands as burden-sharing is arrived at after Durban. We pray that we will return with the targets for Europe arising from Durban. My anecdotal evidence supports this possibility but there will be a burden-sharing issue. What proportion will Ireland take? Having committed ourselves to such high targets already, we will have left ourselves little elbow room in negotiations. It is not that we would try to undo the good work but we need negotiations to preserve our business, agricultural and tourism sectors. Therein lies the difficulty: we may be giving a hostage to fortune. I caution the Minister of State and call on him to reflect on the matter - another piece of reflection for the Minister of State.