Yesterday, I spoke of the Government being long on ambition but short on delivery in a number of areas, notably on the climate catastrophe. Europe’s temperatures are reaching record highs this week across the Continent. Human activity has warmed our planet at a rate not seen for 2,000 years. The consequences are unthinkable and the imperative to act is indisputable. Last week, I asked the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, if negotiations on sectoral emissions targets were being jeopardised, specifically by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. I reminded him that a reduction in emissions targets for one sector would raise targets for other sectors to what Professor Hannah Daly has called implausible levels. We now know that the long-promised sectoral emission targets will not be published this week, as previously thought. Our concern is that in the last sitting week of the Dáil before the summer recess, we do not yet have clarity on when those targets will be published or whether we will have an opportunity to scrutinise them and, in particular, to see whether the targets for one sector will be set at a level so low that it will jeopardise the possibility of targets being reached in other sectors.

The setting of such levels is extremely challenging. The Deputy heard the remarks of the previous speaker. She and I are at one on the climate crisis. I am not sure that is true of those seated to her left in the House because all I get from them are reasons we should keep delaying doing anything. It is urgent. We are very late to the table. In a global sense, climate change is happening before our very eyes at a much more rapid pace than people even predicted. I was struck recently by the US envoy, John Kerry, saying in Davos that people should be reminded that the measures we take now will not protect us from negative consequences of climate change; they just protect us from the worst consequences. There will be consequences. We see it all over Europe. We hope, however, that the work on the ceilings will be completed before the end of the month.

The Taoiseach says all the right things when it comes to climate. He talks about the stark challenges and urgency. Where is the urgency when it comes to setting the sectoral targets? The longer it takes to set those targets, the more onerous it will be for us to meet them. Is his Government too afraid to deal with the issue of agriculture? Are discussions with the agriculture sector and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine holding up the establishment and setting of these sectoral targets? We need each sector to play its part when it comes to meeting our climate targets and our climate challenge. Is the Taoiseach up for that challenge?

Yes. The Government has demonstrated that it is up for the challenge. In the two years it has been in office, it has done very significant work-----

It has been one year since------

-----in terms of legislation, the funding allocated to active travel and rewetting our bogs. There are huge resources going into biodiversity now, contrary to what was happening before, in terms of the National Parks and Wildlife Service being established as an agency by the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan. There is significant work going on across the board, including the agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, initiative that has been announced by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which will address climate, biodiversity, sustainability, water quality, farming practices and the remuneration of farmers to protect and act as guardians of biodiversity. All of that is important. It is important to bring people with us. No one was in any doubt that there would be significant challenges but also negotiations and engagement between the different sectors-----

One year.

-----and calculations because these ceilings have serious implications for every sector. It is not like switching on and off a light.