Mr. Neil Walker:

Climate cuts across all Departments. That is no argument for moving responsibility for it to the Department of the Taoiseach because that is not a spending Department. It holds the ring between all the other Departments. Clearly, there is a Cabinet decision-making process and a Cabinet sub-committee, which is advised by experts, but no country makes the Head of State personally responsible for delivering climate policy. The President of the European Commission, for example, does not have responsibility for it; the Commission has a directorate. Britain has the Department of Energy and Climate Change, not David Cameron. From that viewpoint, while I can see the argument for having greater accountability and it would be great to haul the Taoiseach in during Question Time every week and ask him what he has done for the climate this week, I am not sure that would have any positive real effect on achieving what we want.