Mr. Conor Ó Raghallaigh:

I thank the Senator for the question. The financial analysis underpinning all these things was, to some extent, undertaken in the modelling and research that was done to feed into the 2021 climate action plan. We are now looking at the increased ambition that has been put in place through the Act and there is a requirement on the system now to look much more closely at the financial and economic implications of all this. Risk analysis is something at which we are looking quite closely at the moment. When looking at the climate action plan, we need to look at whether the measures that are set out in the plan are achieving what they said they would. The Senator alluded to the risk analysis of back-loading issues. In a way, we will be waiting to see what the Oireachtas recommends in that regard and what the ultimate budgets will be. There will be an annual economy-wide reduction requirement. The scheme envisaged allows for flexibility for overshoots and undershoots, and savings between budget periods, so that is a possibility. It is work that we need to do more of and it is something we will take forward through the research and modelling group. It is something in which the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, and the Department of Finance are particularly interested. It is an ongoing piece of work that we will be undertaking in the coming year in advance of the 2022 climate action plan.