Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all of the witnesses and I read their opening statement last night. It is quite technical and may not necessarily hit the front pages or what people will be talking about if the late bars open tomorrow night and may not be the first thing on their agenda. At the same time, it is going to impact all of us in different ways, be that aviation travel or our own road transport or equally, in maritime terms and the cost of goods coming in and out of the country. People may be travelling differently rather than using aviation by using ferries and so on.

From the Department’s perspective, this Fit for 55 package and the 51% target are the only show in town. I appreciate there are different starting points. The Commission's 55% is from 1990 while we are talking about 51% from 2018, or whatever it is. Are we doing more or less than them? Are our targets more or less ambitious?

As well as that, we all want to try to reduce our carbon emissions in every different way, whether it is by using more efficient ways of transport, insulating our homes, putting up solar panels or getting new windows and we are all trying to cut down on our energy consumption, not just from a climate change perspective but also from a cost perspective. Fuel is increasingly expensive and carbon taxes are there to incentivise us to use less of them.

What are the penalties if we do not manage to get to these targets, that is, if these rules are implemented and people do not manage to achieve them, for whatever reason? If the sustainable aviation fuel is not available or if the airports are not providing it, what are the sanctions? I do not want to be negative about it but equally, I want to know the consequences, as this is all quite theoretical at the moment and is very much aspirational. I am not saying that it cannot be done because when one looks around, one sees more people on scooters, on electric bikes and in electric cars. Change does happen but it may not happen. We are almost in 2022 and 2030 is not that long away. What will happen if we do not meet these targets?

What engagement has there been, mainly with the larger airports, as the smaller airports are not really affected by this initially? Can the witnesses tell us what airports are not affected by this? Are Kerry and Donegal airports affected by it or is it just Dublin Airport or is it Dublin, Shannon and Cork airports or whatever? Equally, we had the chairman designate of Dublin Airport Authority before the committee yesterday, in a three-hour meeting. We were not discussing this and had many other things to discuss but perhaps if we had had our meetings in a different order we would have been asking him what is Dublin Airport doing in sustainable aviation, fuel, more electric infrastructure in order not having to use aviation fuel when aeroplanes are on the ground and so on in terms of recharging of various components on the aeroplanes.

On maritime issues, what of our ports? What ports are affected? I get the impression that this relates to the much larger ships, many of which do not have the Irish flag - a small number do - that are using Irish ports, as do some Irish-flagged ships. What ports are affected by this and has the Department spoken to the various ports to see how ready they are for it?

Obviously, we do not have car manufacturing in this country but we have many people driving and buying cars. Have we spoken to the motor industry as to where it is and how achievable they see these targets or how it affects them? Everybody wants to go in the right direction but there is the question of them having to physically make a change to their daily lives, whether it is changing the way they travel to work, how they go on holidays, what goods they buy, how they buy them and how they are delivered. All of these issues arise. What are the consequences, punishments and problems if we do not meet the targets? That is not to be negative about it but we need to know the consequences. If we are or are not doing a reasoned opinion, what are the witnesses' views on the proposals? Are they acceptable from a departmental point of view? As a committee, we have to make our own call but from the Department’s perspective, is it happy with the proposals and is it satisfied that Ireland can deliver on them?