Mr. Pat Macken:

The idea of resource efficiency is integral to the whole process. It is a question of embedding it in all policy areas. The resource-efficiency benefits are substantial in terms of achieving greening of the economy. There is much potential for jobs. It is not just the environment sector that is saying this. The OECD has produced a lot of work on this subject. It has a publication called Towards Green Growth which states that, on a global basis and certainly on a European basis, it will not be possible to achieve previous levels of growth until we successfully address this issue. We must take into account the environmental impact of whatever we do as part of the economic equation. The cost must be factored in. It is only when one does so that one can make real progress. This is at the heart of the matter.

Energy efficiency in housing is part of the equation. We have done a lot in Ireland through the building regulations to improve energy efficiency. There are grants and supports available for people who want to carry out energy-efficiency projects in their homes and buildings. Buildings have been identified as comprising an area in which we can make significant progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in a cost-effective manner. This has been central to policy for some time.

We are not trying to put actions into the EAP. This is an EU policy. It spreads out and brings together all the various strands under which the detailed initiatives will be brought forward, be it through legislating on climate change, energy efficiency, eco-labelling or the Common Agricultural Policy. These are matters for detailed discussion. The mechanism does not in itself set targets; it seeks to identify broad areas and some specific areas in which we need to make progress. Under member states' separate corpora of legislation, it will be a matter of making progress in these areas. There are responsibilities placed on the European Union but there are also responsibilities placed on member states. Housing, for example, is not a competence of the European Union, nor is spatial planning. It is by working together and individually that member states can achieve progress.

With regard to the climate change Bill, the outline heads and final climate policy report by the NESC secretariat are to be considered by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht and various stakeholders. The Oireachtas will facilitate the debate on national policy and legislation in response to the outline heads of the Bill. The Oireachtas committee has requested submissions from interested individuals and groups. The closing date is 30 April. The committee will be forwarding a report to the Minister by mid-2013. The joint committee's report on the policy analysis by the NESC secretariat will be the key input for consideration by the Government in adopting a national policy position on the transition to a low-carbon future and finalising the introduction of climate legislation in the second half of 2013. It is a matter of moving away from what is called the brown economy, which is based on fossil fuels, to a greener economy that has a lower impact on natural resources. That is what we are trying to do under the new EAP and under Europe 2020 itself.