Mr. Cillian Lohan:

As Mr. Ewing said, greening the economy is essentially about putting the principles of sustainability at the heart of any new developmental programme, decision and economic development. The local government reform package presents an opportunity to put issues on greening the economy at the heart of activities at local level, in addition to regional level.

I have provided some examples of the broad range of areas that we can allow to fall under the term "greening the economy" rather than having a quite limited view. Our engagement on this issue has been at national level in terms of the Action Plans for Jobs published in recent years. We latched onto those the year before last and broadened the definition through our engagement in the process regarding the areas that are identifiable as pertaining to the green economy. We have been working on this issue very actively. I am involved with a work package funded by the Department on opportunities within the green economy. As a sector, we have been very actively engaged in this process at national level. Mr. Healy will outline the international context to our obligations in this regard.