Mr. Jim Gannon:

In responding to questions that were directed specifically at the SEAI, I will try not to repeat what others have already said. Deputy Dooley spoke about how we can increase our budget, our ambition and our activity in a short timeframe. We find it quite positive that a good proportion of the €22 billion which has been provided for the next ten years has been attributed to climate action. In the past 20 months, since my appointment, our budget has increased from €75 million to €150 million. Demand for our generic capital schemes with businesses and home owners has increased in line with the increase in our budget. The challenge has been to ensure there is robustness in the supply chain, for example among the contractors who are going to deliver the work on the ground. Many of our efforts involve working with those involved in the supply chain to increase quality and volume, to give them confidence that there will be a demand for these services over time and to assure them that when we come to the end of this period of high-profile activity, there will be something to blend down at the tail end, although we would be lucky to be set with that challenge.

With regard to Deputy Dooley's comments about electric vehicles, it is worth noting that sales of such vehicles increased by 50% last year and have increased by 50% again in the first quarter of this year. If one tries to order an electric vehicle now, one will be waiting between eight and ten months because of a shortage of supply. The demand is there. I do not see people parking them on the side of the road. The purchase of second-hand electric vehicles is a significant growth area. People are buying such vehicles on the domestic market and importing them. This shows that people in all segments of the market, and not just new car buyers, are able and willing to go out and buy electric vehicles. It is likely that the type of person who is buying a second-hand vehicle already drives an older car. We are doing more to incentivise people and to inform them of their options in this regard. The initiative in this area that we launched last week is not a public awareness programme; it is designed to inform consumers about these matters. Separately, when we took over the provision of support for domestic chargers in January, we made a change to enable someone who wants to buy a second-hand electric car to apply for support for a domestic charger. Prior to this, support was provided to those buying new electric vehicles only. We are working hard with the Department to put procurement in place in respect of the fast-charging network. We expect to be able to go to the market in the third quarter of this year and the fast-charging will follow soon after that. This dovetails with the decision-making process in the Commission for Regulation of Utilities and the ESB regarding the existing infrastructure.

I would like to return to a point Deputy Bríd Smith made earlier and with which I do not particularly disagree. I suppose transport planning, at its root, is a spatial planning challenge with socioeconomic considerations. By the time there is a discussion on switching from diesel or petrol to electricity, the wrong question is being asked. The question that should be asked relates to the number of people who are having to drive in a car to a place. I was very thankful for and heartened by the recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly with regard to switching towards public transport from roads infrastructure. There is a tendency in that direction. We have to acknowledge that the capital development plan looked at more sustainable forms of transport and at a modal shift away from cars. By the time these issues get to my door, we are answering the wrong question and we are mitigating a symptom as opposed to anything else.

I would like to pick up on some other specific points that were made. I sympathise with some of the views expressed by Senator McDowell. As far as I can see, work is ongoing. We face a certain challenge. Just as there is a perceived conflict, if not an actual conflict, between some of our agricultural policy and our climate policy, there is a similar conflict between our business and enterprise policy and our climate policy. We will continue to face such challenges. It is important to ask questions about the methods used to address those challenges and the infrastructure used to face them.