Mr. Seán McCabe:

It would be a foolish move on the part of the State to contract out all of this work. It is an enormously significant development opportunity. Consider it as the biggest stimulus package to ever enter the country. What we are good at, especially in rural Ireland, is co-operatives. We should intentionally distribute the jobs and opportunities from climate action and the supply chains. Retrofitting requires materials. Silvopasture on farmland will produce a lot of lumber and opportunities. If we consider the role of co-owned renewable energy services, what else could that generate? Large seaweed plantations can be co-located with offshore wind turbines. There is significant job potential for all sorts of diverse industries. If we want to be serious about rural development, we should borrow, invest heavily, lean into this crisis and distribute the opportunities intentionally using progressive procurement and other methods such as community land trusts.