Malcolm Noonan (Green Party)

The challenge, and this was raised the last day, is one of fairness and fair distribution of burden sharing. It appears that we are going to overshoot considerably and each of the overshoots has to be carried into the next budget, which will put further pressure on Ireland to meet its targets at the end of the budgetary cycle and, as per a previous CCAC report, will result in significant potential fines and the inability to go to the markets to purchase credits. It will also raise the question of equity with developing countries. It really is challenging. As a committee, we have a duty to tease out these questions and ensure we meet the ambition that is required from a fairness perspective.