Professor Brian Ó Gallachóir:

I will not speak on behalf of the Climate Change Advisory Council. I will defer to Ms Donnelly on that. I will give some of my own reflections on the question of these gaps. I agree with the Chairman that there is a gap between analysis and policy and another between policy and politics. The analysis-policy gap needs to be addressed first. It is interesting in terms of some of the broader work we do at the MaREI centre with Government Departments and politicians. The politicians and civil servants have different roles, interests and competencies. It is a fascinating area. My main comment would be that we need more of this interaction. The siloing of things is detrimental.

I agree that, more broadly, the penny has not dropped on what is required to achieve the ambition the Oireachtas has agreed on. I would add, however, that the other key element is wider society. As well as the policy system and the politicians, engagement with wider society is a significant requirement for achieving the ambitious transition we are discussing. The Citizens' Assembly was a landmark pioneering example of what can be done in that regard. There is research on different types of dialogue processes. It is not that these processes result in changes of mind. We are all in this together and there is this challenge. It is a question of how we grapple with it.

This links back to my earlier point about the gaps in the modelling. One aspect of the societal dimension is the modelling but the other is the engagement. That is the bit that I love. I will not digress too much on this. One example I draw to the committee's attention is a project in the Dingle Peninsula. I encourage the committee to visit it if possible. It is an example of how research, industry and civil society actors can come together to embark on transition. It started as a project to see how far things could go with technology adoption but it evolved into a much broader study of sustainability. If the committee cannot visit, I encourage it to invite some of the people involved to address members. That is a digression, however. I will pass on to Ms Donnelly.