Ms Lynn Boylan:

I think Mr. Seán Kelly, MEP, is probably the best person to address these matters, as he is on the European Parliament's committee for energy. It is not my area of expertise but there are a number of concerns. It makes sense to deal with climate change at a European level and I would encourage the EU to be progressive and ambitious about this. It should go into the negotiations in Paris with a strong position and not be prepared to back down. We can lead the way in terms of renewables and the green economy.

The European Investment Bank is currently having a public consultation on green jobs. There are huge opportunities for addressing energy needs, including renewables. I would encourage Ireland to play a strong role in that regard. Denmark, for example, is coming close to being carbon neutral so maybe we can learn some lessons from them on how they have managed to do that.

Biofuels is an area of real concern for EU energy policy. Mass deforestation is taking place in developing countries to provide biofuels for the European market, so I have serious concerns about having any reliance on biofuels. We need to examine the alternatives. I also have concerns about the carbon emission trading scheme because the price picked has been shown to be false. This is encouraging polluters to pollute, instead of getting them to change their practices, which we need to do.

In dealing with climate change, rather than trying to react and meeting businesses that are resistant to change, we should be leading the way with research and development innovation. We should not adopt a conservative approach in trying to offset emissions.