Mr. Gabriel D'Arcy:

I look at the matter from a corporate point of view. I am currently CEO of Bord na Móna and I previously spent 19 years in the food industry. I was abroad for most of the latter period. In the corporate world, it is markets and our customers that are driving this. Corporate social responsibility has risen way up the agendas of most international corporate groups. As part of that, they play to social sustainability. They do not want people working in sweat shops producing cheap products and services for the western world. This is the case whether it be technology, food or clothing companies. Customers are also seeking low carbon footprints. The consumer is beginning to understand the position in this regard. Our customers are driving us in a certain way. For example, our customers for horticulture and energy products are driving our business in a certain direction. The opportunity for corporate Ireland lies in the future rather than in the past. The latter is gone. Future opportunities will increasingly be based on leading-edge technology and service products that are responsibly produced from an environmental point of view. I refer, for example, to energy products which give rise to lower carbon emissions and low-carbon products in other areas. Many corporates are moving into what is termed the circular economy. The latter involves trying to be much more resource efficient. What we are discussing is but a subset of a wider issue relating to resource management.

Profit and customers - particularly those whom we keep satisfied - drive corporate Ireland. Our customers are motivated by sustainably produced products and services. There are sectors which are extremely carbon-intensive in their activities and which there is a great deal of investment. These have to migrate and there must be a transition. It is not just as if one can throw a switch, a proper transition must be made and it is necessary to bring people and communities along. However, it is the market which drives companies.

On a national plan followed by sectoral plans, corporate Ireland would benefit from a national vision. There would then be an opportunity for that vision to cascade into various different aspects of policy. This is a Government vision which should cascade into all areas of policy formulation throughout the country. It is within that framework that the corporates should operate. Corporate Ireland would benefit if there was such a national vision in place. That vision should be developed following consultation with all of the key players throughout the country.

The Deputy's final point related to opportunities. I am of the view that opportunities exist. Ireland should be at the leading edge because, as a nation, it can reap the greatest benefit. Germany is far ahead of other European countries in this area and when one considers what is at its disposal in the context of renewables, one can see that it has much fewer resources than Ireland. However, Germany is still moving in a definitive direction. There is a real opportunity for Ireland and, thankfully, much of this is beginning to be realised. It would, however, be greatly embellished by the presence of an overarching vision.