Dr. Kelly de Bruin:

Within the EU, we are all working towards the same goal. We have a European Union ETS system that covers all EU countries with the same carbon price. Non-ETS targets have been set. We can talk about whether that has been fairly set, which is a valid question. However, a great deal of work and detail goes into this. It is difficult for all EU countries. We all believe we are in the same position of having to cut emissions and it is not an easy task. The frustrations felt in Ireland are also felt throughout the rest of Europe. That is evidenced by the protests that are happening and the concerns being raised in other countries.

We did some work on examining the amount of emissions embedded in what we import into Ireland. While we export a large amount of beef products and a great deal of emissions go into the production of these, we import three times more than we export. As an island, we are a net importer of emissions, so I do not believe that reducing our emissions is doing more than our fair share. On the balance, reductions will have to be made around the world. That is the unfortunate situation.