Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the last one, it is a matter for those individual companies to operate within the regulatory structures that exist, but I think there is a real obligation on countries to do an awful lot more to assist developing countries with climate adaptation. I attended a conference during the UN General Assembly week last year. I was really struck by those countries that often have the least and have done the least in terms of damage to our planet in many ways but that are now experiencing the worst impacts of climate change. There is this inverse relationship between the less countries have and the more serious the damage in this context. It is very clear the current trajectory in terms of the level of spending to assist those countries and, indeed, the policy approach to it, is not in any way going to be adequate to reverse the trends. Not to be too negative, the approach now being taken by very large countries on it, unfortunately, is only going to make this situation more difficult. From an Irish perspective, we have met our own target in relation to climate finance, which I must say was a big enough call by the last Government - of which both our parties were part of - to make in 2021 in respect of getting to the €225 million. We are now committed to initiating a review of the roadmap to inform our position post-2025 in terms of climate finance and diplomacy. We will be engaging on and grappling with all of these issues with our international partners.

On the issue of debt, whether it is debt forgiveness or debt restructuring, it is clear the level of debt is now crippling developing countries in making the crucial investments they need. On the one hand, we have countries saying they are going to provide a bit of assistance, while on the other hand, we are seeing more countries nearly taking back more in terms of the debt repayments. This is counterproductive and this is an argument Ireland needs to make. We have a lot of work to do with many of the bigger players in this regard.