Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate Mr. Byrne on his appointment. He made a powerful point when he spoke in his opening statement about the 40% renewable target that was set in 2020, the scale of that task at the time, how the catastrophe we now face is so enormous and how this can be overwhelming for people. It was interesting to hear about his work in Vita in east Africa. That shows how interconnected we are at the moment and the global problem we are facing. He mentioned the pandemic. It is difficult for our politicians to talk about ethics and morals when people are still reeling from the financial crash of ten years ago and dealing with the crisis in housing.

When people look at Covid and see how badly we are managing that in the First World, they wonder how we are going to manage the climate emergency. It is a valid and frightening point. I would like to hear Mr. Byrne's thoughts on that and how we can proceed on an ethics, morality and trust basis and whether he thinks that rather than always going to businesses, markets and profit, we could engage leaders and public intellectuals on this issue.