Professor John FitzGerald:

I was giving the example of carbon tax which we said was vital if we want to tackle climate change. However, it has negative effects on those on lower incomes. We said those have to be addressed and there are different ways of doing that. It could be by giving a carbon dividend of the same amount to everyone or one could use the welfare system. We decided not to recommend which because we felt that was a matter for the Oireachtas. However, we recommended that the Oireachtas and the Government do something about it. In the last two budgets, the Governments chose a way of dealing with it. It is appropriate for the Government and the Oireachtas to make the final decision on that. It is our job to point out where the problem lies and the need to address it.

International responsibilities are an important issue. I am not sure the Bill is the place to do it. Our Danish counterparts have worked out what the appropriate carbon budget for Denmark will be out to 2050, thinking about climate justice and what Denmark owes the world, given past emissions and so on. We should be conscious of our responsibilities to the rest of the world. To some extent, we subcontract that to the EU. As EU citizens, the EU is playing its role. It is something where further research and reflection is required but I do not think that enshrining that in legislation where we do not know what the right approach or answer is makes sense.