Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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We have some time remaining. I will bring in Deputy Smith if she is still online. She indicated she wanted to contribute but she might have stepped out.

I appreciate the witnesses staying with us. I have a question relating to the alignment of the work of local authorities vis-à-visthe development plans, the operational decisions, the climate legislation and the 51% target and net zero target, both of which are set in law. I alluded to some instances with which I am familiar that suggest that alignment is not quite there. I am thinking of issues such as planning to build new roads, one-off housing, the chimney stacks issue I mentioned and the resistance to active travel development, notwithstanding the good progress that has been made. Do both groups represented consider they are constrained by the upcoming local authority climate action plans and that is the route to playing their part in reaching the 51% target or is the responsibility broader than that? Should we not be thinking of the 51% target in every decision we make because we all know it will be very difficulty to achieve it? If we are going ahead and planning new roads or housing developments on the edges of urban areas or even further out that would be very car oriented developments, are we not pulling against the climate legislation? I would be interested to hear the groups' views . I am not sure who to ask to respond first.