Ms Gina Kelly:

Yes, in terms of going back to our opening statement and the letter the council sent to the Government, it was focused on a number of sectors. When we think about compact growth and its impact on mitigation, particularly in the transport sector and the built environment sector, that provides benefits in terms of reducing car dependency and allowing greater accessibility and lower cost of provision of public services. On the built environment side it allows for the development of differential heating solutions for our built environment such as district heating, which was mentioned by a number of people in today's discussion. That is an area where the council sees a lot of potential.

One of the areas we focused on in our most recent annual review was the question of the interaction of planning for district heating deployment and heat pumps in areas where it is suitable. District heating as a solution is particularly beneficial where we have concentrated sources of heat demands and the ability to create an efficient network aligned with heat sources. Again, going back to the local authority climate action plans - the drafts of many of which are out for consultation at the moment - we are starting to see a lot of district heating projects come along. We visited the Tallaght district heating scheme last week and that is a really good example of where the regulatory and governance framework is still developing. The report of the district heating steering group was recently published and it is a really good example of local authorities and agencies working together to make a project happen.

Lastly, the Deputy mentioned in his first comments the idea around embodied emissions in the sector and the importance of considering that as we progress with a significant increase in housing targets based on changing demographics. That is another area in the next iteration of the climate action plan; for example, the council has asked for more detail on how low-carbon construction materials can be integrated into new housing developments and also reductions in cement, for example, so that developments might be progressed.