Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. I will start with both Departments. It is disappointing from this committee's perspective. We worked well over a number of months to broadly agree a cross-party approach regarding how Ireland will tackle climate change. Regarding the price on carbon, there was a majority consensus with regard to setting that at €80 per tonne by 2030. We requested that a draft policy paper on the outcomes of the public consultation from the Department of Finance and a poverty review be submitted to the committee by the end of July to enable us to make recommendations. It seems that the Departments of Finance and Communications, Climate Action and Environment have given a disjointed representation today. Mr. Kenny spoke about the public consultation regarding how the carbon tax will be used while Mr. Collins spoke about energy efficiency. While this is all very positive, this is a whole-of-Government action plan and I would like to know what the collaboration between the two Departments comprises and when we can expect this policy document. Who would like to respond? Will we get this policy document regarding a poverty review? I very much welcome the input of the ESRI so we have had information but it seems to be disjointed. As this is an whole-of-Government action plan, we need a more co-ordinated response from all the different Departments. Can Mr. Collins explain how his Department is working with the Department of Finance?