Ms Sadhbh O'Neill:

To quickly answer Deputy Whitmore's question on the assessment that the Commission did, it only did an assessment, as I understand it, of the existing measures that were included in the 2023 climate action plan. It did not assess the other set of figures associated with additional measures. As we know from the EPA's work on the plan, it could not model all of the measures in the climate action plan. To be brief, it takes us to the point that many of the measures in the climate action plan are not quantifiable in terms of their emission reduction potential. The way that the measures are listed and categorised might be useful for the Department and from an administrative point of view but it is not necessarily useful in determining whether we will achieve our targets. There is something there to be done.

In addition, the oversight role of the Department of the Taoiseach is extremely limited. It is really just a monitoring exercise as opposed to a supervisory one. Perhaps that is something that could be addressed.