Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Yes. It was remiss of me not to wish the Minister well on his decision not to contest the next election, like me. We will probably wash up on other shores. I hope so. He has done some wonderful work in the Department, which I think has been acknowledged in the media.

One recurring theme for me is these outputs and outcomes that are being published as part of the RES. I just do not believe the Department or any Department is keeping them relevant. They would inform the debates we have here on where money should be spent. They should be reviewed every year, and we should see fresh indicators. I know it will come up later but, on the circular economy, there is no mention in the outcomes or outputs of most of the issues on which people focus. Even here, I wonder about some of these targets. I see that new ones have been introduced for particulate matter. I do not know whether these targets represent improvement or deterioration. It is not explained whether going from a target of 19% to 32% for particulate matter is an improvement. We should have an Estimates debate in which there is some more meaningful link between the money we are voting on and the outcomes and outputs we are being offered as grounds for these Estimates.