Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----in 2021 or 2022, but it has withdrawn in spirit, as Deputy Martin rightly says. Notwithstanding that, many states and many cities in the United States are continuing to take climate action, and have taken the view that not only is this the right thing to do in terms of preventing climate chaos, but they also think it makes sense in terms of long-term economic policies, with future jobs being in the green sector, not in importing fossil fuels. It is very possible that the United States will meet its 2020 targets while it is very unlikely that we will. I think that, when we are critical of the United States and the US Administration's attitude to climate change, we should bear that in mind. The best thing that we can do is to catch up and to meet our targets in 2030 at the very least. Then we will be in a stronger position to give an example and speak to other countries.

In terms of a visit, there is a standing invitation to the President and Vice President of the United States to visit Ireland. As of today, there is no date agreed and no programme discussed, but as Deputy Martin correctly pointed out, President Trump can be somewhat unconventional in his communication methods and may well inform us by electronic means of his imminent arrival, but that has not happened so far.

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