Mr. Pat Leahy:

The intention is to have an element of trigger approach, largely by the Ministers for the Environment, Climate and Communications and Housing, Local Government and Heritage. It is the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications with regard to climate and greenhouse gas reductions and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage regarding, effectively, nature and nature projects in terms of water quality.

The intention is that once those Ministers have signalled that there are issues to be dealt with in those areas, a list of projects would be put together by the individual Departments. We are talking about natural projects, for example, nature conservation sites. It is not just about actual greenhouse gas reductions, it is also about improving water quality, marine water quality and biodiversity. There are EU and national obligations in these areas. The intention is to put together projects in those areas. For example, there are Natura 2000 sites focusing on hedgerow and native woodland planting and removing invasive species. There are many areas of strategic national importance in terms of birds and habitats that are under threat. The intention is to put capital projects in place to do those.

It is not just about greenhouse gases, but it is actually greenhouse gases plus nature and water quality restoration projects. The idea behind this is these are natural projects, planting trees, species removal, etc. It is those kinds of projects that are being proposed for this.