Chairman:

I thank Professor FitzGerald. I will begin with a few short questions before I move to members.

The Citizens' Assembly stated it was important that whatever plan the State came up with was enforceable by law. As Professor FitzGerald is aware, it recommended that an independent statutory body be established with powers of enforcement over the State if targets were not met. What is his view in that regard? Would he support the establishment of such a body?

One of the most difficult sectors to address is the agriculture sector. How much detailed consideration did the advisory council give to the economic effects on farmers' incomes and Exchequer returns? A major concern for many of the members present is getting the balance right in meeting our targets, while not disadvantaging rural Ireland and keeping our agricultural interests in mind.

I do not know if Professor Fitzgerald has formed an opinion on the proposal for a stand-alone Department of climate action. In the light of the scale of the work that must be done, does he think it would be a positive step to have a separate Department of climate action?

On the potential of offshore wind energy generation, I note that the United Kingdom is tapping into it on a large scale, with 10.6% of electricity being generated from onshore wind and 8.5% from offshore wind. What do we need to do in Ireland in that regard? What are the challenges or blockages? Has a licensing regulatory framework been set up? What do we need to do? Offshore wind energy can easily be tapped into, but the committee must know what are the challenges in that regard and the council's view on how we can take that step to use it. All present know about the objections and planning problems with onshore wind energy projects; therefore, offshore wind energy generation seems to be one of the areas on which we must focus.

I ask Professor FitzGerald to elaborate on these points.