Mr. Ross Fitzpatrick:

I thank the Senator for that question. I cannot comment specifically on the clean industrial deal. However, it might be useful to dig a little into some of the specific risks to Ireland with the omnibus proposals, which I spoke about earlier. There are national legally binding climate targets at both domestic and EU level. We must meet those under EU and national law. We are required to reduce emissions significantly in this decade under the effort-sharing regulation and that covers all sections of our economy. If we do not introduce genuine decarbonisation plans, especially in energy-intensive or high-emitting sectors, it becomes much more difficult for Ireland to stay within its national carbon budgets and meet its EU targets. That is why it is absolutely crucial that the final version of the CSDDD contains climate transition plans that companies are obliged to implement. Companies will only be under the obligation to publish and draw up a climate plan without any obligation to implement. There is no enforcement mechanism and no implementation. It is absolutely crucial that the Government rejects that or else we will potentially expose ourselves to risks such as the financial penalties I mentioned earlier.