Ms Caoimhe de Barra:

On the Deputy's first point regarding the three to five year time-frame, the matter should be seen in the context of a very serious lack of economic analysis and costing, as well as the knowledge that scientific understanding of it is evolving very fast. We consider that a seven year timeframe is simply far too long not only on the political accountability front but also in terms of our understanding of the issue; having a period of seven years without a substantive review is too long.

On the economic evidence, apart from the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association figure - I do not have the details on where it got the figure - the fodder crisis was in the media and research was done, meaning a cost was put on it. There is a very large blind spot with regard to the economic costs to Ireland of doing nothing about climate change. The matter must be taken very seriously, particularly in the context of an intergenerational impact from climate change on the country, as it will affect future generations. I posit that the committee should take it forward and ask those with a relevant background to conduct analysis so we can understand perspectives. In the absence of such analysis, a three to five year timeframe is more appropriate than a seven year timeframe.

We fully agree that the issue needs to be given a national importance but it is always very difficult to get it across. People nevertheless feel strongly about it for different reasons. Trócaire's work is overseas in the developing world; that is our area of competence and we can speak very well on that. We need to join with other sectors in society which have a vision on how this impacts Ireland. I cannot underline enough how important it is to have the evidence of how that affects livelihoods in Ireland. There is a big gap there at the moment.

I was asked to summarise three key points. They are around the need for a clear reduction target of 80% to 95% below 1990 levels by 2050, making a provision in head 5 for the development of the low-carbon roadmaps every three to five years and provision for strengthening the role of the expert advisory body so it has more freedom in publishing annual reports without the process of necessarily having to go through Government.