Mr. Colin Byrne:

On nature-based solutions, the knowledge and practice is there. The EIP initiative the Department has been administering for years has given us a test bed for many of these solutions. The challenge is upscaling that. I would be very familiar with those challenges in the Department. The technology and knowledge are there. The capacity to deliver is the real problem. Even the number of agricultural advisers available to do this is a challenge.

We are seeing an issue where local authorities and the EPA are struggling to get staff to do this. It is not a funding restriction; it is capacity. It is bodies to do the work and scale it up to an extent that will deliver reasonably quickly.