Dr. Geraldine Brennan:

I would be happy to. I do not think I said in my opening statement, which largely sought to reflect industry members, that I came here on their behalf and to make their perspective heard. CIRCULÉIRE is funded by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, the EPA and EIT Climate-KIC. Climate-KIC is one of about ten knowledge innovation communities funded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology to try to accelerate the transition to a zero carbon economy and spur climate innovation. It came on board CIRCULÉIRE and profiled the Slovenian case study to us saying that everyone looks at the Netherlands but the latter country is ten or 15 years out the gates and has sector-specific green deals. This is a slight tangent but the green deals help create a forum for policymakers and sectors to go on a journey to look at and unpack the regulatory barriers. They are two to three years long and they have done thousands of them over the past 20 years. As Leslie Carberry said, they are best in class. They are still doing it and their ambition is to be circular by 2050. They know it is a long-term game but they are investing heavily in it.

Slovenia is an important case study for Ireland because it is not the Netherlands and has not been doing it for 20 years. It has a smaller economy, close in size to that of Ireland. It is also deemed to be a laggard but it has decided that there is an opportunity, with the right interventions, to learn from the leaders and embed this into the heart of economic policy development and, over a short period, progress. The Slovenians have done it, much like Ireland is seeking to do with the circular economy Bill, by putting it on a statutory footing and looking at how to go on this journey over the coming years. The case study outlined there is still high level because the process has started relatively recently. It is an interesting one.

I went off on a slight tangent about Climate-KIC because it is working with the Slovenian Government and has, over a number of years, set up ways and what it calls deep demonstrators to have these dialogues. It is different to the green deal which is a voluntary mechanism but it is about creating dialogues and demonstrator environments where you can pilot and test things and there is learning across sectors. Climate-KIC has been fundamental to that activity in Slovenia. Its interest in investing in CIRCULÉIRE was to leverage those insights and bring them to bear in conversations with the Government of Ireland.