Mr. Paddy Mahon:

The issue has been covered to some extent in the CCMA submission and that of the AILG. Increasingly, there is a higher level of governance across the local authority sector in the area of climate action. Consequently, climate action is a regular agenda item for all management team meetings across the sector. Most, if not all, local authorities now have a strategic policy committee named as a climate action committee and, in some cases, dedicated exclusively to climate action.

The AILG mentioned the training that is being rolled out at the moment. As I mentioned earlier, training has been made available to 16,000 of our staff out of a total of 29,000 staff and to all of the AILG members. So there has been a significant ramping up of governance and in promoting awareness, and an understanding of our role and the key areas that are involved in addressing climate change and in our functions under climate action.

Earlier I mentioned a very good example of when resources were put in place very quickly. Just over a year ago the Department of Transport, along with the National Transport Authority, NTA, made significant funding available for resources for local authorities to put in place active travel teams. A year later, up to 200 people are working on active travel projects, which are beginning to discover issues on the ground, although they are probably not unexpected. I believe that with the right approach and governance, and the right understanding and training for ourselves and across the whole local government sector, we will build capacity and the know-how that is required to deliver what is effectively a Government policy and a key tool in understanding, and dealing with, climate change.

My colleague, Mr. Joe Boland, eastern and midlands CARO, will comment.