Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. He is a constant advocate, both in committee and in this House, for the circular economy. We are acting on this issue. In particular, this year we are targeting the biggest emitters in our economy. The IDA group of companies comprises more than 1,800 companies of which around ten of them represent the vast majority of emissions. Likewise, in Enterprise Ireland-supported companies, about 20 of their clients represent the vast majority of emissions. We are working directly with these companies. We will spend tens of millions of euro partnering with companies to help decarbonise their production systems. We are also looking at, as the Deputy said, increasing significantly the 4% or 5% we currently see adopting State-supported schemes. We want to make it much more widespread. I look forward to teasing through the issues in committee with the Deputy.

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