Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I confirm that I am on campus. I am not feeling great, so I am not coming down to the committee room to spread diseases. I thank the Minister for coming in. I am sure the Minster is probably aware of it, but I wish to draw his attention to correspondence from some very eminent scientists, Professor Barry McMullin, Dr. Andrew Jackson, Mr. Paul Price and Professor John Sweeney, that we dealt with in private session earlier today. The correspondence dates back to 9 August 2022. Has the Minister answered the correspondence? If so, I ask that we are provided with a copy of his response. For the here and now, I ask the Minister to outline how he would deal with the concerns that these experts have expressed in their letter. Many of the concerns raised are around the legality of not having a target for land use, land-use change and forestry, LULUCF, and for postponing it, and the targets not being adequate and not fulfilling the requirements of the legislation in a timely and effective manner. The scientists are concerned that these targets and the lack thereof in some areas is actually flying in the face of the legislation. I ask the Minister to tell us how he would address that.