I wish to raise an issue concerning education. A Programme for a Partnership Government states: "Education is the key to giving every child an equal chance in life". Unfortunately that is not being acted upon in Ennis, where next September there will be insufficient places in secondary schools to accommodate those leaving primary schools. It is anticipated that this will be the case for years to come. Twelve primary school principals have written to the Minister outlining their concerns in this regard. It particularly affects those from the Traveller community, those from disadvantaged areas and those with special educational needs. The issue is compounded by the fact that there is no centralised application system. Some pupils are allocated several places in schools and others are left without a place until the school year starts. The Taoiseach recently officially opened a school in Ennis, Scoil Chríost Rí. He has also acknowledged that there is a shortage of secondary school places. What immediate action will he take to address this issue?

I am afraid that the Minister for Education and Skills is in the Seanad so I am not able to give the Deputy an update on the actions that are being taken or the progress that is being made in that regard. As the Deputy pointed out, I had the privilege of opening the refurbished Scoil Chríost Rí in Ennis and I am aware that there is a shortage of school places in the Ennis area. I will ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide the Deputy with an update on the actions being taken to resolve that.

The European Commission's top civil servant on climate change appeared before an Oireachtas committee last week. He asked for each Government to aim for the target of net zero emissions by 2050, similar to President Macron when he announced the same ambition at the European leaders' meeting the week before last. Some eight other countries signed up to that target but we did not. What are the Government's intentions in that regard? Will the Taoiseach agree with the European Commission and other European leaders who wish to set a target of achieving net zero CO2 emissions by 2050? If so, when does the Government expect to announce it?

We are still finalising the new climate action plan and will publish it in June. As part of our deliberations, it is our intention to agree to carbon neutrality and net zero emissions by 2050. We have a difficulty with signing up to more onerous obligations to be met by 2030 because we do not want to sign up to things that we cannot necessarily achieve. We can do it by 2050. We will struggle to meet those targets by 2030 but we will meet them. Last year, emissions fell by about 2%. If we continue on that trajectory we will meet our targets by 2030. We are not willing to sign up to more onerous obligations unless we can be sure we will meet them. The short answer to the Deputy's question is "Yes". The Government supports signing up to net zero emissions by 2050.