Mr. David Hegarty:

I think we have provided a note on the Net-Zero Industry Act to this committee, which is the EU's main response to inflation reduction Act. It identifies seven technologies in the renewable space and sets a target of 40% industrial capacity in the EU in each of those areas. Allied to that, as was rightly pointed out, a more permissive state aid regime is emerging. That presents issues for Ireland about which we have some concerns. It is important to bear in mind that, even at EU level, some leading think tanks have questioned the rationale for some of these targets. Apparently the EU already exceeds the 40% target in some cases. There have been some criticisms at EU level of the Commission's proposals. We continue to engage in the discussion on those proposals.