Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

Cuirim fáilte roimh na finnéithe chuig an gcruinniú. I will start with the sustainable goals. Some of the conspiracy theories on social media give them a bad press. Why would anybody be against the likes of reducing poverty and inequality, improving education and health, and inspiring economic growth? It seems so illogical, yet there is a growing conspiracy theory suggesting that this is the root of all the ills of the world. Why is Ireland doing so poorly on the environmental index?

Progress on SDG 15 is particularly poor. It refers to life on land, sustainable agriculture and so on. A few weeks ago some TDs met a group to discuss biomass. They were not the usual group and basically they were talking about the lack of regulation in that area which is one of those new industries. This morning on the radio there was discussion about the lack of progress with electric vehicles. The goal is 1 million and we are at 15,000 or maybe a bit higher in that regard. Again we are not meeting those targets, which is frustrating. It is difficult for people from a poorer background to access. We do not talk enough about the whole area of just transition. I ask the witnesses to focus on that in their replies.

The challenge is particularly bad in respect of the environment section. The fact we are doing well in some areas. Mr. McGeady referred to education and said we were doing well, but I could introduce our witnesses to schools where we are not doing well, particularly where students might have a disability. Will Ms Ciesielski to focus on why we are doing so badly on life on land? It is linked to the biomass and, for example, soilage.

Why are we doing so badly on social media? What have we to do in that area? We need to bring people with us. What can we do on that?