Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the members for their questions. We roughly totted up the number in response to Deputy O'Rourke's question. I started counting people but then I realised I was going to miss some important colleagues. We think we have around 15 to 20 people in the team overall working on climate in the Department, which makes it a good share of the overall organisation's headcount. They are a vocal pillar of the Department and very active and punch well above their weight, even though, in terms of share of the organisation, they are a big part of the Department and only recently established.

As for investment funds, I will have to get more information from Deputy O'Rourke on that. I am not exactly familiar with the issue he is referring to, but I am sure the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, or the Minister, Deputy Ryan, are. As Minister for Finance, I was involved in the decision on the investment strategy of ISIF and that it could not invest in certain kinds of companies in the future. Therefore, while I am familiar with the broad area, I am not familiar with the specific area the Deputy is referring to and I do not wish to do a disservice by giving a glib answer.

On the semi-State sector and senior civil servants, which Senator Higgins mentioned, the role of the climate dimensions of Departments' mandates is absolutely considered in the evaluation of the performance of Secretaries General and their management boards. The climate aspect of what my Department does is part of how we evaluate our performance and evaluate the performance of those who lead the Department on a Civil Service basis.

On Coillte, I will have to consider what the Senator said to me. I believe organisations like Coillte can unlock so much opportunity for our country and I know the Senator has a different view regarding what its mandate could be. The Minister, Deputy Ryan, who is a big fan of organisations like this, paints a positive picture as to what Coillte can do in the future and what it is building up to do, but clearly, the Senator has a different view on how it is structured and I will have to commit to take her point of view on board and give it more consideration in future, which I will do.