Ms Barbara Nolan:

The Deputy is really on topic because the Commission will produce a communication today on energy prices. It will contain recommendations on how to manage the current situation, which is not really related to the green deal as such. It is related to many different factors, one of which is that we now have a large increase in production as a result of economies coming out of the Covid situation and, in addition, there are issues with Russia in respect of the production of gas. There are a number of related issues. As some people say, hindsight is 50-50 vision or whatever, and it is important to note that if we had started on the green deal 15 years ago and now had a lot of renewable energy available, we possibly would not be in this situation. The reason there is a crisis is that we are heavily dependent on fossil fuels. There may be an element of being wise after the event in saying that, but it is the reality.