Mr. Robert Watt:

If other countries are making more progress than us it is because their policy options are easier and their costs are lower than they are here. This reflects the fact we have an agricultural sector that takes a significant share of the non-ETS. We have homes that are bigger than in other countries and per home they produce 58% higher emissions than other countries. We have a spatial structure that is different from other countries where we have more reliance on private cars. It is a function of the nature of our economy, society and emissions. It is not because other countries are doing more; it is because it is easier for them to do more relative to us because of the particular challenges we face. Agriculture accounts for two thirds of the non-ETS. The herd has increased by 22% over the past three years and milk production has increased by 27%. There are very clear decisions and consequences. The fact that the UK or another country is doing better than us reflects the different structure we have compared to them. It is not because they are being braver, doing more or taking more action; I have not seen this in any event but I am happy to be contradicted. I do not necessarily believe it is because they have an independent body that is forcing their system to act in a different way. Our performance reflects the difficult structures and emissions nature of how agriculture has evolved.

With regard to Project Ireland 2040 I stated it has not been gone through in detail with all of the options being examined. This work must be done. We need to go through all of the options. Project Ireland 2040 includes spending that would have an impact on emissions. The challenge is to ensure this spending reflects the cost of future emissions. There will be a lot of school building and renovation of the school stock. None of this is earmarked as related to climate but how we build schools in the future will be very important in terms of ensuring they are energy efficient and minimise the impact on emissions. There is a lot of work to be done in all of these policy areas to ensure we take decisions that will not make the problem any worse and will reduce emissions. The Government has committed to producing another mitigation plan in the coming years and that will have more detail on what the precise impact will be of a variety of issues that are floating around.