Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the witnesses for the presentations. As the Chairman said, there is an enormous volume of material here and it is difficult to put it into a framework where it is easy for us to drive it forward. As I understand it, Ireland is trying to align itself to the European Green Deal, and I know from being also a member of the enterprise committee that that is quite a challenge, with the new supply chain responsibilities, the new taxonomy on investment, the new targets that are being set, the phase-out of internal combustion engines and so on. Against that background where Ireland is struggling to meet some of its targets and is probably falling behind in areas such as even waste management, what does Mr. MacEvilly mean by putting hard limits on fossil fuel investment? In Ireland and elsewhere in Europe, internal combustion engines are still being sold. Europe has set a date for a phase-out and there was a great deal of debate about whether it should be 2030 or 2035, but Friends of the Earth seems to be going well beyond that. How, in practical terms, can we get people on board for such a change from the European Green Deal or go well beyond it? The impression I get is that the rest of the world is not anywhere close to where the European Green Deal is.

There was a reference to industrialised agriculture having to be added to fossil fuel in having hard limits and so on. Again, in an Irish context, what does that mean? We have a mixed agriculture with different sizes. I do not think many people would describe it as industrialised agriculture but it is responsible for 35% or more of our CO2 emissions. If that is to be included, with investment curbs and so on, what does that mean in an Irish context? I need to understand the scale of this. Everyone is on board for enhancing the targets and we know that the national contributions are not adequate. Ireland has stepped up its contributions considerably and is struggling to deliver that.

Ms Balfe singled out investment in a Chinese utility company as an example. I am sure China is trying to do a transition and I get the impression it is, even though it is slower than the rest. It is setting 2060 as the net zero year, as opposed to 2050. In this transition, is Ms Balfe saying we should cut off at the knees any of these companies that are engaged in electricity because they have some coal in their portfolio, which is a no-no? Is that what she is saying by singling out an individual company that, presumably, has some green and some non-green activities it is trying to transition through?