Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That is fine and I will not detain our guests because I know there will be many questions. I thank them for being here and for their presentation which is welcome, considering the state of our preparedness to address climate change. We all recognise that we are well behind in addressing it. The Citizens' Assembly has given us in the Oireachtas food for thought by encouraging us to prepare a report which we have just published. It is now for the Government to set out an action plan for addressing climate change, and that is welcome.

I noted, within the presentation, something that is often missed in the climate change debate, which is the economic opportunity of the potential developments. That is often lost. Climate change, and the actions that flow from that, have only negative connotations in the minds of some. There is also a positive side to it. That said, we must also address, as the committee did in its report, the necessity to have a just transition for those sectors of the economy that will be negatively affected by the behavioural change that is necessary to address climate change. I hope the Commission will be mindful of that and support member states that will have particular difficulties in addressing that.

My question is about the consistency of the EU's climate strategy and specifically the targets of the Paris Agreement objectives. Would our guests comment on the recent European Parliament resolution that the EU's 2030 target must be increased by 55% to get to net zero by 2050? I believe that is based on hard evidence but not every member state has signed up to that, including Ireland. We must get serious and not only talk about it. Any of the model trajectories for achieving the targets by 2050 suggest that the sooner we start, the easier it will be and the less impact there will be annually. It obviously makes sense to bite the bullet now rather than later. Perhaps Mr. Petriccione will comment on that.