Dr. Niall Farrell:

When it comes to enabling it, I fully agree that there need to be alternatives and something that people can switch to. That is an important point to take into account when designing the policies in this regard. I stress that the alternatives are there to help the carbon tax to work better and the tax is designed to incentivise the shift. There are two arms to the application: we need to make the bad thing more expensive and the good thing more accessible. Both elements are there. If we do not do that, there is international evidence that shows that if goods are simply subsidised, everyone switches to the cheaper option, which is subsidised, but then what happens to the fossil fuel option is, demand goes down, the price goes down and people start to switch back. We need to make that expensive, which is a fundamental element. I agree that goods need to be made accessible. I am from County Longford. I grew up in an one-off house so I know all about being tied to a car. I would separate the two issues. There is the current housing situation and then there is the future. For the current situation, options include EVs and so forth, which needs to made more affordable. However, future planning is important. Planning needs to be sustainable, there needs to be a situation where amenities are close in order that people are not as tied to a car to get around and for social activities. In regard to heating, is the Deputy referring to hydrogen heating? I did not catch that.