Ms Laura Burke:

I want to comment on a couple of things. I do not have the figures off the top of my head to answer the question that was asked about carbon dioxide and methane. We will send those figures to the committee. I do not want to lead the committee astray. I know we have the figures. I cannot remember how they break down.

I agree with what the Deputy said about public buildings. The EPA is in the midst of ensuring there will be a small number of charging points in each of its buildings by the end of the year. We will then look at rolling out those facilities. I recognise that we need to lead by example.

I would like to speak about how we communicate. The EPA provides the secretariat to the national dialogue on climate action, which has just commenced. This links in with one of the ancillary recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly, which relates to engaging people on the challenges of climate change, including in a positive way. We need to try to motivate changes in behaviour. We are looking to create structures at local, regional and national levels to support the generation of bottom-up ideas, as well as their transition into actions. Our first meeting in Athlone in July was attended by 125 people and had 75 participants from nine counties. They were self-selecting. We went through the public participatory networks of the councils and the local community professional bodies. It is sometimes the case that the same groups of people who all know the issues talk to one another. It is interesting that at the end of the meeting in Athlone, 70% of the participants felt that they had a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities. I remind the committee that I am talking about a self-selecting group. Some 70% of participants felt at the end of the meeting that they were more aware of the climate action initiatives that are happening in their region. Some 90% of participants felt more inspired to take action. It was great that 90% of them felt that they had a better understanding of the purpose of the dialogue. Some 92% of them felt that the regional gathering enabled them to express their hopes, concerns and ideas. I wanted to mention in the context of our discussion on communication and engagement that after one day, this group felt positively disposed to take action on the issue. There will be four more dialogues across the country between now and early 2019.