Mr. Jerry MacEvilly:

There is perhaps a risk of talking at cross-purposes. A climate justice approach is necessary and there probably is a risk of blame. We also have to, unfortunately, appreciate that for the majority of the public, really hard restrictions on flights would come as a real shock. There is, as always, education to be done on the role of aviation in emissions but that is just a basic point to start with. I agree we need to ultimately look at this from an equity perspective. We have to start with those who are most responsible but we also have to appreciate that a range of measures are available, such as looking at what flights are truly necessary. The committee is probably well aware of the steps other countries have taken to ban short-term or internal flights and the need to strongly subsidise train infrastructure at the same level, if not more, as aviation.

In an international context, an awful lot of this on the aviation and maritime side will have to be taken up at EU level, but nationally, it would be worth looking at the degree of fossil fuel subsidies in the aviation sector in Ireland. I think I am right that the largest subsidy is for aviation fuel, which is something worth considering. Moreover, as we all know, to go back to the financial justice questions we were discussing earlier, many of the largest aircraft leasing companies are based in Ireland, and that is also relevant and perhaps worth looking at.

Lastly, Transport and Environment, the EU Brussels-based think-tank, has done excellent work in the following area. There is a risk, as we have seen in other sectors, of prioritising the likes of biofuels, which are, of course, going to be needed. In the near term, however, as the Chairman said, we need stronger obligations than the eventual, slow, gradual, increasing use of biofuels.