Mr. Mark Griffin:

On the narrative of rural Ireland, it was mentioned earlier in my presentation and, I think, in that of the ESB that the structure of our system is different from what is seen in other member states. If one looks at Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions, approximately 28% of our emissions is from the emissions trading system, ETS, sector while approximately 72% is from the non-ETS sector. The rest of the EU, by comparison, breaks down as approximately 45% and 55%, respectively. If one does a deeper dive, looking at the non-ETS sector, which is the bit with which we struggle most, approximately 46% of the emissions in Ireland was from agriculture, according to the 2015 figures. In the EU 28, the non-ETS sector makes up approximately 18% from agriculture.

We have a very different challenge to address in terms of how we deal with rural Ireland, with the agricultural sector and with that sort of trade-off between addressing the climate challenges and the whole issue of food security, the impact on rural Ireland and jobs in rural Ireland, which is obviously something the Government has to reflect on.