More on the subject of bottled water.

When are we going to wake up to the lunacy of transporting water around the country (and indeed the world) by truck. Isn’t that what oceans and rivers are for?

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The human face of Climate Change: a slum in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Dhaka is twice the size of London, and it population swells every year as refugees from flooding abandon their homes.

Many barbs have been aimed at the Green Party over the last 3 years, particularly in relation to not delivering on our policy agenda.

That criticism will obviously continue, but the evidence that substantiates it is becoming ever weaker.

On December 11th, John Gormley delivered his 3rd Carbon Budget, which commits this State to an 80% reduction in CO2 emissions over 1990 levels by the year 2050. The framework to achieve this ambitious target will be enshrined in the Framework for Climate Change Bill, which will place Ireland’s targets and programmes in relation to Climate Change on a statutory footing.

This Bill will establishing the overarching framework under which the State will deal with the challenges of Climate Change as they arise over coming decades. It will regulate the use of levies to reduce emissions, the setting of emissions targets, the development of alternative energy sources, our participation in EU wide efforts to reduce emissions and the execution of adaptation measures such as flood defences.

In short, it will give the State the necessary powers and focus to deal with the consequences of Climate Change, both for our own island nation and the wider world.

Of course, the usual criticisms will be directed at these measures, namely that we are a small nation whose efforts can have no meaningful impact on the global problem of Climate Change.

This is a dangerous and irresponsible argument.

As the tortuous negotiations in Copenhagen have shown, dealing with Climate Change is a political problem rather than a technical one, and there can be no solution unless everyone is part of the solution.

If small counties like Ireland can be shown to lead the way, the pressure mounts on our larger neighbours, whereas if smaller countries don’t play their part, these neighbours are afforded the political excuses they require.

Furthermore, we cannot simply hide behind our national identity to disclaim our moral responsibilities. The 4 million people who live on this island produce as much CO2 as 20 million Chinese people, and 100 million people living in the developing world.

If we has Irish people, and Europeans, cannot be seen to compromise for the sake of future generations, what hope have we of convincing others to do the same?

John Gormley delivers 3rd Carbon Budget

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We had a bad day at the office on June 5th.

Neither Johnny nor I were in the running for a seat, and our vote in both electoral areas was down from the General Election in 2007.

We knew it was going to be a difficult election, but we did a lot of canvassing, and spent quite a bit of money on posters and advertising, so we were hoping to do a bit bit better than we did.

In the end of the day, however, we weren’t on a level playing field. I can’t remember an election in which the opposition had such wind in their sails, and given the public mood, it would have been a miracle had we made a break though.

We won’t give up, however. All the same issues and challenges that existed on June 4th remain today. The breakthrough we seek may take years to come, or may never come, but if it does, we have to be ready.

Watch this space.

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Minister for Energy, Communications and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan, visited Carrick on Thursday last.

The Minister met with members of the local Chamber of Commerce, and the Tidy Towns Group, who have appealed to all to be litter aware during the month of June, during which judging takes place.

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There seems to be a view about, promoted largely by members of Sinn Fein and Fine Gael, that the Mobile Broadband service that will be provided to Co. Leitrim under the National Broadband Scheme will not adequately serve the county’s broadband needs.

This might have been true 5 years ago, but these days, the development of mobile broadband is advancing far more rapidly than wired broadband, to the extent that mobile broadband will most likely the normal mode of delivery for residential customers within 5-10 years.

This makes sense, particularly in Ireland, where are network of telecommunications cabling is very old and where we have abundant space in our radio spectrum (because we don’t reserve big chunks of it for the military).

The cost of upgrading our network, particularly in rural areas where settlement is so dispersed, would be enormous, and by the time we completed it, mobile broadband will probably have outstripped wired broadband in terms of the speed it can deliver into a residential home.

Another advantage of mobile broadband is that it is portable: you can take it with you when you leave you home, or when you leave the country.

From that point of view, it would be ludicrous for the State to invest hundreds of millions of euro in upgrading the eircom network, particularly in rural areas, where it is over 30 years old.

Instead, we will extend the mobile reach in Leitrim through more masts and better signal management, so that Leitrim residents can avail of improvements in mobile broadband as they come on stream.

This is the same model of rural broadband delivery that is being used in the UK, Australia and the US.

To learn more about the National Broadband Scheme, go to http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/nbs

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I am reluctant to make grand promises about being able to create jobs in County Leitrim in the short term. Councillors do have a role in economic planning, but their statutory ability to steer the County Manager in a particular direction is often limited.

That said, the Council does have one specific power which has a direct impact on sustaining and creating local jobs: the power to set commercial rates.

As with every other County Council, Leitrim County Council will struggle to balance its books this year. Its funding from the Local Government Fund has been reduced and it is generating lower revenues from both commercial rates and motor taxation.

However, this does not prevent the Council from taking a pro-active approach to the issue of rates. By recouping expenses from other areas, the Council could introduce a rates holiday for new businesses, which would remove a significant burden from local entrepreneurs while they find their feet in these very difficult times.

For instance, if Councillors were willing to forego the Cathoirleach’s Allowance, which costs the Council several hundred thousand euro over the term of the Council, the money could easily be diverted to a rates holiday for new businesses.

All of this will come up for discussion when the Council meets towards the end of the year to frame its budget for 2010.

If we are to sustain jobs in County Leitrim, we need to start being creative with the powers we have. Some sacrifice on the part of Councillors, and a rates holiday for new businesses, would be a step in the right direction.

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