Dr. Matthew Crowe:

As Dr. Cotter mentioned, implementation of the national mitigation plan, the adaptation framework and the national development plan, which are interlinked, is now key. However, we also need to get the balance right between the urgency of getting on with the transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy and society and making the right decisions for the future.

There are many challenges ahead, but there are also many opportunities for Ireland. If we get this right, Ireland can be a leader in this transition, which we can discuss further later. Many of the EPA actions in the national mitigation plan are in the research area. The committee will be aware that the EPA co-ordinates environmental protection research on behalf of the State, and has been doing so since 1994. It has also been funding climate change research for over a decade. This is helping to build capacity and knowledge foundation in our universities, colleges and institutions that can support this transition. The EPA makes an annual call for proposals in three areas, water, climate and sustainability, the most recent of which was made yesterday in respect of 2018. We have a number of co-ordination committees, involving the funding agencies, Departments and agencies, that help us with our work.

Action 11 is to co-ordinate the production of an annual report on climate change research from the National Climate Research Co-ordination Group. We have also been tasked with developing a periodic assessment of key findings of that research every five years. We are currently scoping out those two reports and we expect the first report will be published in 2019.

Actions 78 and 90, on which we are co-lead with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, are around building our knowledge base on carbon neutrality in an Irish context. In the call announced yesterday, we have called for proposals in this area. Regarding action 8, climate dialogue, the EPA will have a supporting role in establishing and running the national climate dialogue. We are in the process of hiring three staff to establish a secretariat to support the Department and the advisory group in that work. We look forward to our role in the climate dialogue.