Mr. Philip Hughes:

The short answer is that we are making progress. One of the big things we are doing is building what we call the FlyingGreen platform, which is basically taking the data and measuring things such as CO2 and non-CO2 emissions, contrails, etc. Looking at the roadmap for 2050 towards net zero, hydrogen aircraft will not come online until the mid-2030s. We have seen improvements in engine performance, hull performance and so on. However, sustainable aviation fuel, SAF, is the way we need to go. The problem with SAF is that there are limited amounts of it available and that you are in competition with other modes of transport for it. For somewhere like Ireland, we should be the place involved in the production of SAF using wind because we have the location to do it. There is an opportunity here. However, at national level – I am using that in the broadest sense – there needs to be a greater political imperative towards the production of sustainable aviation fuel because that is the best near-term solution we will get to do that. To answer the Deputy’s question, there is not enough. More needs to be done. One of the areas we have been particularly trying to develop – we are working closely not just with DG MOVE but with DG CLIMA, DG DEFIS and a number of other European institutions – is how we can actually get to that point.