Mr. David Owens:

It is open to the Government to allocate the proceeds as it sees fit. From the point of view of the Department of Finance and the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA, they raise the money subject to conditions they are prepared to meet in the marketplace. Together with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery, and Reform, and other line Departments, that money is allocated. Some €10.5 billion has now been raised and much of it has been allocated. A significant proportion of that is for nature restoration and for biodiversity-aligned purposes. That would happen on an annual basis. There is nothing to stop an increased proportion of that going towards biodiversity purposes.

Last year, when he was the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe wrote to other Government Ministers to point out the taxonomy and what it potentially meant for public spending. Trying to align with the taxonomy would make schemes more attractive not only in respect of the ease with which the NTMA could raise money on behalf of the State but also in respect of private sector companies that have reporting requirements. Bank of Ireland, AIB and other companies want to report a green asset ratio. Many financial institutions are now in the low single digits in terms of how much of their investments or lending is taxonomy aligned. They want to increase that. There is a clear match in that regard. Anyone who is looking for spending and can make a scheme fall within the arms of the taxonomy will have a better chance of getting both public and private money.