James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Minister to give in his concluding remarks the details of the framework. What funding has been allocated to it and how is its roll-out envisaged? Will it be a series of workshops around the country or a convening of all the great and the good at some forum? How exactly will it work?

Regarding the meeting of our targets, and I appreciate the Minister said we are projected to be 0.5% away from where we need to be, I attended the European Forum for Renewable Energy Sources, EUFORES, conference a few months ago and was frankly embarrassed to see on a screen Ireland at the bottom of the table in terms of meeting our climate change targets. It is an emergency. There are many other challenges facing the country, not least President Trump, Brexit, etc., but climate change must be up there with them. As a nation looking to long-term sustainability and taking the long-term view, it is paramount that we make progress in this area. I ask the Minister to address this as well.

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