Ms Sadhbh O'Neill:

I will just add a couple of points. Under the Irish climate law, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications has quite a considerable set of new responsibilities and commitments. It is possible that there may be a degree of overstretch. Looking at our experience over recent years and looking ahead - and again, at the end of the day, these will be political decisions - there may be some questions to ask about the potential need for a dedicated Minister or Minister of State for renewable energy. There may also be a case to be made for taking the communications brief out of the Department. There are a number of ways in which the Department's capacity could be expanded through putting in place a different structure.

On the gaps the Deputy has identified in the climate action plan, Friends of the Earth made a submission on the draft 2024 climate action plan. I will send that to the Deputy because it addresses the gaps he identified in respect of LULUCF and unallocated emissions. The chapter of the draft plan that addresses that is chapter 5, which sets out the Department's thinking. Our conclusion is that the proposed measures, which are quite sketchy because these are unallocated emissions and the Department has not yet determined how to allocate them, are radically insufficient and do not seem feasible for 2030 as they rely on, for example, sustainable aviation fuels and negative-emission technologies that are not available at scale. That includes some feed additives in the agricultural sector. There is still a reluctance to zero in on what we know to be the main drivers of emissions in the LULUCF and agricultural sectors and to address the demand management challenges that exist on the energy and transport side.

The kind of crisis we are facing in reaching our 2030 targets is only going to be magnified when we look at the long-term strategy process. If we cannot manage a debate about the targets we have in front of us today, we are going to be in a poorer place when we come to debate what is required for 2024 and for reaching our climate neutrality target under law.