Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Senegal and South Africa will be early beneficiaries of the idea to develop production capacity in those countries and the continent.

On Deputy Boyd Barrett's point, because I was in COP and so on I was not in a position to have an in-depth conversation with Coillte. I am not in favour of the sale of forests. There can be local circumstances from time to time, such as sports clubs or national bodies looking for facilitation, but overall I want to grow more trees and we need to do so, particularly native species. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has overall authority in respect of that. We will seek a meeting with the Minister and Coillte to get their up-to-date position in terms of broader policies. I see the role of Coillte and Bord na Móna as being to fulfil the climate change agenda of the Government.

Deputy Paul Murphy raised "blah blah blah", a phrase that was actually coined by the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, at the beginning of COP26. On the investment, I do not know whether the Deputy represents workers, but the workers of Charleville will welcome the investment in the plant there. The workers in Mallow will also welcome it. It is about going to higher end value, less commodity and diversifying to other markets, rather than relying on the British market.

On non-governmental organisations and Pegasus spyware, we support Palestinian human rights defenders as a Government and have consistently done so financially. We are a founding member of the Freedom Online Coalition. We believe the human rights people have offline must also be protected online and we must ensure that emerging technologies privilege freedom, transparency and an open and tolerant society. In terms of the NGOs listed, we support Al-Haq financially and Addameer. We maintain a high level of oversight of our NGO partners and have robust controls. We do not accept the actions that have occurred in this respect.

Deputy Barry raised fossil fuel companies. I did not meet any fossil fuel company in Glasgow. I met with other Heads of State, with the young students from UCC I mentioned and with a group from the Dingle Peninsula who were developing a coalition of interests in terms of alternative energy provision.

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