Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I will be as short as I can. I think everything has been said. I welcome the debate. This topic needs to be debated and this is a good opportunity to do so. We have not debated things in this way on all occasions in the past. We have closed our minds on many occasions. There has not been a debate about nuclear energy and we should have that debate before we make decisions. There should be a debate about fracking before we make decisions. There is enough evidence to be considered rather than close our minds to it.

In the 1950s, when I was very young, I remember an objection being raised to fluorescent lights because they would make one go bald. It seems funny now, but there was a huge outcry against fluorescent lights. However, I think we are safe enough. The same sort of thing is happening with genetically modified foods. There is an automatic reaction to any change and sometimes we listen to it too easily and too readily. In Germany, where nuclear stations were closed following a campaign by the green movement, the resulting cost has been huge. No reason was found for the closures except for an inbuilt belief that nuclear generation was not the right thing to do. The same thing applied in Britain.

About six years ago, I was asked on a television programme what business would I go into if I was going into business now. I said I would go into renewable energy. It seemed the in-thing to do back in 2005 and 2006. A number of people got in touch with me to say they had a wonderful idea for wave, tidal, solar or whatever energy. Clearly, many people are thinking that way and believe in what they can do.

That said, there are some things we jump into which are not right. I will touch on one of these. Biomass is mentioned in the Fine Gael motion and Senator Barrett has spoken about it. When I was in Brazil a few years ago, I could not get over the amount of biomass being used in place of petrol. Now it turns out that biomass is doing considerable harm to the environment, but at that time we thought we should be growing biomass products instead of food.

I accept entirely what has been said by Senator O'Neill and others about the need for food. The Minister spoke about the amount of food we waste. Wearing my supermarket hat, I know that 30% of the food people buy is thrown out and not used. That can be recycled and used to create energy.

There are things we can do. Let us make sure we have an open debate about them. This debate is one that should take place regularly. Let us make sure we do that.