Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)

The Minister kind of gave the impression earlier that fines for failing to meet the 2030 targets may not be an issue, but they are quite clearly set out under various sections by the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council. Under the effort-sharing regulation, fines range between €5 billion to €16 billion. Under the land use change and forestry regulation, fines ranging from €1.6 billion to €5.8 billion may be incurred. Fines relating to the renewable energy directive range from €0.5 billion to €4.4 billion. Given it is less than five years away, does that help the Minister in any way to estimate what exactly the fines could be? Would we not be better using that money to renew or invest in more renewable energy and more of a State-led approach?