Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for their presentation.

Do the witnesses believe that expenditure throughout the European Union is efficient and effective? What is the most common problem with state aid that turned up in the course of the examination? Where did those deviations occur?

On climate change, to what extent has the European Court of Auditors, ECA, compared the performance in the European Union in regard to less reliance on fossil fuels and greater investment in renewables? Has it examined expenditure concerning the type of renewables, the effectiveness and the efficiency of the climate change programme, as well as results?

To what extent has expenditure on pesticides being examined? Will replacements for pesticides achieve similar results? How effective will expenditure be in that area? A suggestion has been made in some quarters that if the use of pesticides across the European Union is changed, there will be a dramatic drop in production, in particular cereal production. To what extent was technical evidence presented to bring about a change? Again, how effective is spending in that area? Is it money well spent or poorly spent? What does the ECA see there for the future?

A certain blame for climate change is being attached to rural Ireland and the agrifood sector. I believe, however, that rural Ireland and the agrifood sector can make a major contribution to alleviating the problems causing climate change through renewable energy, afforestation, hydroelectric schemes, wind energy schemes and others. I know these developments are stronger in some EU countries than in others. To what extent does the ECA see money being well spent strategically in that area? How effective has it been so far?

Some experts here in Ireland - I use the word “experts” loosely – claim that rural dwellers contribute more to global warming than anybody else. I do not agree with that. I believe rural dwellers have an equal contribution to make. They are in a position themselves to monitor how to have a programme of less reliance on fossil fuels and a shift over to other energy sources. I will give a simple example where I carried out my own experiment. In my house I put in a wood-burning stove and triple-glazed windows. In one fell swoop, I reduced my costs on home heating oil by 60%. That was also in a cold winter when there was severe demand and usage.