Mr. William Walsh:

From an SEAI perspective, when we look at the public sector in terms of the messages we would like to communicate to the political system, the first is the prioritisation of fossil fuel reduction and a focus on that. Everything we do we put through that lens. It is certainly the way to go to meet our 2030 targets and our public sector target. We have outlined the challenge of funding for the public sector. In the SEAI at the moment, along with the support of other organisations and indeed the five we have identified, we are laying pathways for how we can do what we need to do; we just need to do more of that. That will require funding so the prioritisation of funding is important.

Leadership is hugely important, both politically and from an official's perspective. The public sector is an exemplar in lots of different ways and we have seen that in the energy emergency following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The first thing we did as a group that was set up by the Department of the environment was figure out what the public sector could do to reduce its energy demand. We then rolled out a reduce your use campaign to our citizens. The public sector went first and showed how things can be achieved and we then rolled it out to citizens. That is hugely important.

Another example of leadership is on the electric vehicle side. We see electrified fleets and the gardaí now have a significant number of electric vehicles. When you see a garda driving an electric vehicle, it helps you to make that decision yourself. The Department of Transport launched a programme for taxi drivers where there is a significant grant for taxi drivers to buy an electric car. It has really activated the market. Given how many people get in and out of a taxi regularly, it is another angle in terms of leadership. There are lots of ways the public sector can lead.

From our perspective, we have seen that the organisations that do the most and the best have top-level support. Every year to 18 months, we hold a public sector conference. Without a shadow of a doubt, they are the most motivated and passionate people we encounter in the SEAI. Across the board, there are always really strong champions within the public sector. We have a lot of people there but, as Mr. O'Sullivan mentioned earlier, we just need to point everything in the right direction.

Finally, resources for the public sector are important to help the likes of the Departments of Education and Health. There have been resources put into that area but more resources are important. Without bums on seats, things do not happen as fast they might otherwise. We need to things to happen fast, given the targets we have to reach for 2030.