Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. O'Gorman for attending. It is a little harder when a delegate appears after everyone else.

The Minister's approach is to set sectoral targets and comply with overall EU targets. Dr. O'Gorman is suggesting a very different approach in having clear national targets to bind everybody in. Does he believe it would be divvied out between the different sectors at that stage? The Government's proposed approach may change because these are only the draft heads of the Bill. What key issues need to be addressed? How would they be addressed in setting national targets and having a top-down approach by tying in the various sectors involved?

Dr. O'Gorman has argued that it is possible to set targets, but how does he think that can be changed? On the one hand, the Government states it cannot set these targets because it might lead to the Four Courts every day of the week, while, on the other, Dr. O'Gorman says that would not happen. How does he think we can turn this situation around?

Personally, we need targets if we want to mark where we are going, know what steps must be taken and how fast we must go. Do we need to run faster to catch up, to slow down or to change course? Perhaps Dr. O'Gorman might answer these points.