Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will make my own comments. If the witnesses wish to respond briefly, they are welcome to do so. From my experience on the committee in the past 18 months or so, everyone at this meeting is very serious about the challenges we face. However, Professor Sweeney is correct when he says that we - not just us in politics, but all of us - exist perhaps in our own bubble. A major challenge we have is to move from these debates. The debate today and yesterday has been incredibly compelling. We have had climate scientists move from science and technical aspects of the carbon budgets to other considerations. While there may be disagreement as to what the carbon budget should be, the debate has moved to the very real kinds of policies that are necessary and the kinds of opportunities that could be presented. That has been lacking in the debate on climate action up to now, in my experience. My sense is that we need more of this. We need more people with expertise such as today's witnesses and the witnesses we had before us yesterday. The more these debates happen the better. However, I have a fear that we are not communicating. We are operating in our own sphere and talking to one another and not communicating these vast and very real challenges, including the local and the immediate. It is very well and good to talk about the high-level and the abstract, and that is really important, but we do the movement a huge disservice if we do not talk about the real, the immediate and the local. If the political debate breaks down into the traditional Punch and Judy show of the Government versus the Opposition and accusations of "You are not doing enough", that is an absolute disservice to the challenge we face and, ultimately, we will fail. I invite the witnesses to respond. They do not have to do so, and we are out of time, but if anybody does wish to comment, please just indicate.