Mr. Brian Quirke:

Where we are at the moment is that the roadmap, as I say, sets out a number of areas and one of these was to set out the baseline data for Ireland for how we are going to measure our progress for the 2030 target. In parallel, there is a process under way at EU level, with the Commission proposal on food waste reduction targets which was published in July last year. The Commission is going through the process of examining the proposal at EU level and there will be negotiations at trilogue stage. That is anticipated following general approval of the general approach later this year. That is trying to achieve a harmonised approach in all member states as regards what baseline year would be looked at in meeting the proposed European Commission targets. The Department is participating in that process.

As has been pointed out, the EPA produces the data on food waste, and 2020 was the first referenced year that was published in 2022. We are following an EU process and we are setting out the main areas of focus in the roadmap, which will probably be updated before the end of 2025, which will be before the end of the current roadmap period.