Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not think that is fair. The national mitigation plan was produced in July 2017, which is some time ago. The numbers tell their own story. For a while, due to the impact of the recession, Ireland looked as if it was going well. It was when the recovery came that we realised that the type of structural change that needed to happen had not happened. The national mitigation plan was the first whole-of-Government address of the issue. Undoubtedly, it would be easier if we had started earlier but equally one must bear in mind that it was a lost decade. We all know that. One can look at other sectors of our economic and social provision. We were unable to make the investments in health and other sectors in those years that one would have wanted. I will not comment on what has happened before me.