Mr. Thomas Ryan:

Of course we are going to bring it to the attention of the committee. Of course we are going to ask whether it is right that methane, which lasts in the atmosphere for up to 12 years, is benchmarked like-for-like against carbon dioxide, which lasts in the atmosphere for up to 200 years.

One should not be surprised, as Mr. Trevor Donnellan said, that methodologies change; things evolve and with that evolution we will bring to the fore changes around the methodology calculations. I do not know why Members are surprised because in the event of things changing we will continue to highlight them, just as we continue to highlight our frustration at the carbon sinks not being included. We have the largest permanent pastures in Europe and yet we are getting zero carbon credit for the grasslands. All the permanent pasture and the grassland that we are renowned for and despite the fact that there is between 0.5 and 1.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide being locked into the pastures, we are not getting credit for that.

This is all part of that discussion. It should not be seen in any other light.