Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I wish to ask Mr. McCarthy if his report and the consideration relating to it were framed prior to or after the publication of the report of the International Panel on Climate Change, IPCC. I imagine that both were framed prior to the emergence of the latter report. What thoughts does he have on the impact of that report on his Department's activities, plans and targets? It has shocked all the official bodies across the world that are trying to deal with climate change. I am sure the Secretary General will have given some thought to his own role in this.

I assume the Department's programme was produced prior to the IPCC report being published. I would also like to know whether the Department took into account a report produced by Met Éireann in 2016 that declared extreme weather events as the norm rather than being rare. Was that taken into account when the Department was looking at what it can do in dealing with rural Ireland and communities?

My first question is on the home insulation services. In the context of last year's extreme weather events, the Dáil was forced to put it to the Taoiseach to give an extra two weeks' fuel allowance to people suffering as a result of those extreme cold conditions that occurred as a consequence of climate change. Mr. McCarthy has talked about grants that are provided for home insulation services. Does Mr. McCarthy think that scheme sufficiently covers people whose socioeconomic profile means they rely on the grants entirely rather than on their own means to retrofit their homes and to be able to insulate and reduce their emissions?