Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I would like to award an A-plus to the composer of that reply because there is a lot in it. Any analysis of the IFSC would indicate that in order to maintain the enormous progress that has been made over the last 20 years, and to consolidate and expand the activities at the IFSC, higher level activities need to be introduced in addition to diversification. The green IFSC was a proposal initiated under the last Government, as the Taoiseach outlined, to try to give added dimension and value to the activities there. With the job losses in Aviva and a fear that there can be a degree of migration of certain jobs from the IFSC in future, there is a need to bring different functions that can bring different jobs to the IFSC. In the context of the green IFSC, have any specific recommendations emerged from the feasibility study, which Government could implement and provide for either in the context of the forthcoming budget or in the context of developing the reality of a green IFSC on the ground?

It is my understanding that the Cabinet sub-committee on climate change has not been re-established by the new Government. Therefore, there is no Cabinet sub-committee on climate change, as such. Can the Taoiseach confirm that? If that is the case, I ask him to reconsider the establishment of such a sub-committee because climate change is a fundamental issue that will continue to affect the world, including Ireland. The importance of the Cabinet sub-committee on climate change is that there is an inter-departmental approach to it. One can have various sectors contributing to that process, so that everybody has a clear understanding of the challenges that lie ahead. The fact there is no longer a Cabinet sub-committee acting on climate change, and Minister Hogan's decision not to proceed along sectoral lines in terms of climate change, all adds up to a certain disregard for the issue itself. No matter how much certain politicians might think so, it will not go away. I get a sense from the current Government that it is not taking the issue of climate change seriously enough.

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