Mr. Oisín Coghlan:

I agree with a lot of what everybody else has said about engagement. It has been patchy and, overall, inadequate. There was some good work done in the national dialogue on climate action initiative but it petered out. Apart from the intersectional gap that Dr. Healy identified, its connection to policy was also very unclear. It just petered out. I know that at the national level, the stakeholders represented here have all said in previous sessions, going back to the national economic dialogue in 2019, that a session once a year with the Minister under the national economic dialogue to talk about climate policy is not enough. We need a national stakeholder forum at which all the stakeholders represented here could meet more regularly, perhaps three or four times a year. That forum could be modelled on the Brexit forum, the future of Europe forum, or whatever other forum it might be. We need an ongoing forum for dialogue on climate policy. It is good that the Government keeps stating it will have a new, enhanced social dialogue, including on climate, but we have yet to see that in any way rolled out. Of course, Covid complicates matters, but it is time for that to become real. We urge the committee to keep an eye on that, shall we say, or to push it, if it can.

Climate policy is a massive challenge and an existential threat to human civilisation. There are many things we need to do but once they have been done, they will be very positive. Those include warmer homes with lower fuel bills, cleaner air, more liveable communities, 15-minute cities, more public transport and active travel. All of those things will lead to a healthier, more enjoyable lifestyle and lots of good jobs. The fact is we have to move away from where we are now, where there is a lot of inertia in the system and a lot of vested interests, perfectly legitimately. Things are often done in silos now. We need to get from where we are now to where we need to be, and that will be challenging. Apart from saving civilisation, that will be worth it in and of itself. The benefits will be worth it.