Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will come back to the Deputy on the exact point raised, but the climate debate the leaders had took place throughout the night. There were many side discussions, mainly involving the Taoiseach, to be fair, because it was a meeting of leaders. The meeting continued throughout the night to try to reach an agreement on this issue. Again, nothing is ever perfect when 27 member states are around the table, but it is a hugely significant step forward. I look forward to the European Union working together. From these conclusions, the Commission will then publish its plans during the year.

Those will marry very much with what we are doing on climate change. Despite what Deputy O'Donoghue said about renewable energy being forced on all of us, it is absolutely necessary that we adopt it because we do not want force dirty smoke on people. The key aspect is that there is a transition, and some people will be adversely affected by that transition and they need help. That is the message from this Government and the European Union, and it is one of the issues which I talk about with my colleagues.

That is a key focus not just of the climate change policy, but of budgetary policy as well.

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