Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I thank all the witnesses for their attendance. I have a question for Mr. Griffin on recommendation 1 of the Citizens' Assembly regarding a single organisation responsible for ensuring that we achieve our targets. The committee has been receiving different views on that and there seems to be an emerging view that across Departments at a very senior level, a committee of Secretaries General being answerable to the Taoiseach's office would be a good model to pursue. I note that the national adaptation framework has seven Ministers who will produce sectoral adaption plans by next year. What are Mr. Griffin's views on that?

My other question concerns getting information to the citizen. We have heard about the terrific work of the Tipperary Energy Agency and a number of other agencies across the country that are doing work, but it is clearly not in every county. I note the Department has four climate action regional offices. Will they be operating in each local authority or will it be more regional, such as at the regional assembly level?

Also, is the proposal that I and many others have made on communicating to the citizen via RTÉ and Met Éireann one of which Mr. Griffin's Department would approve, considering RTÉ comes under his Department's remit? Met Éireann is under the remit of the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government but I have no doubt it is something he could work on across Departments.

On the renewable electricity support scheme, RESS, and communities developing the renewable electricity projects, is this something the Department sees farmers being able to avail of, because many of them are interested in the PV potential there? Will European models, for example, enable them to connect to the grid, supply their own electricity and then sell it? Is that something the Department envisages coming in under that particular scheme?