Mr. Jerry MacEvilly:

My understanding is that it is either not commercially or technically viable or has not been proven at any scale. I thank the Deputy for his question.

It is important to remember that carbon capture and storage are not new. The technology has been discussed and there have been actual supports from other states for the best part of 20 years. I do not want to give the impression that support for new technologies is somehow inappropriate. That would obviously be ridiculous. The point is that a reliance on these technologies, while at the same time we have ongoing investments and expansion of fossil fuels, would be entirely contradictory and would undermine the entire process.

On the cap, the real risks around the use of abatement language is that we are concerned about it being a get of jail card or loophole that is being built into the text from the very get-go. The EU position is not ignorant to these concerns. It notes that abatement should be limited to "hard-to-abate sectors", so only used for certain processes. There are other relevant caveats as well. Our position is that there is no room for this from the get-go, and that such text or this type of formulation constitutes too many risks. Ultimately, it does seem likely, from what we have heard about the negotiating positions of other blocs, that there may be a strong commitment around renewables. and perhaps a call for the tripling of renewable capacity and the doubling of energy efficiency. We would be very concerned coming away from that if it was limited to that text without any reference to the fossil fuel side of things.

On a separate issue, my colleagues have provided really detailed information on recommendations for the loss and damage fund.

It would be appropriate if the committee could direct these issues at the Minister for Foreign Affairs or relevant Ministers, be it the Minister for Finance or the Minister for public expenditure. It is superb that we have engagement by this committee but it comes down to responsibilities. My understanding is that the Minister for Foreign Affairs will also be present at COP28 so it would be appropriate to direct these issues at his offices as well.