Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I must leave shortly to speak on Brexit in the context of a review of last week's European Council meeting. I will propose that we do not let the brothers next door get us down but, rather, maintain our close connection, particularly in terms of energy and climate, because we will not be able to decarbonise if we are not connected. We must balance the variable supply of electricity. It makes sense to do so on a north west European grid basis. We have everything to do in that regard.

We have fantastic connections. Lord Puttnam, who was involved in the drafting of the UK legislation, is a good friend to this House and has been of significant assistance to Irish Governments through the years. Similarly, we brought over Mr. Alex Chisholm, dusted him down, trained him up and sent him back to the UK, where he is now a permanent secretary. Our energy regulator, Mr. Dermot Nolan, heads Ofgem. The former head of EirGrid is a director of National Grid in the UK. We have a significant number of connections and I am sure we will be able to overcome political issues and maintain co-operation.

Britain has been successful in reducing emissions, with a 40% reduction since 1990 and ongoing reductions last year of 2.5%. That has largely come from power generation and a move away from coal. As Lord Deben said, in transport, land use and other sectors, however, Britain is flatlining much like everywhere else. I agree fundamentally with Lord Deben, and the vision France has, that we are doing big picture change and that we need system change. This is a broad question but how is that going to be brought about in the UK? How close is the UK to that type of system change, particularly in transport and agriculture? That seems to be the key to unlocking the next step in decarbonisation.