Mr. John Fearon:

I wish to speak to heads 3, 4, 7 and 17 of the Bill, which deal with the development of strategy, the link to international commitments and the preparation of a roadmap. Clearly, the legislation is ambitious, which is necessary, and for many reasons it is expected to be particularly challenging for the transport sector. I hope that putting that in the context of the heads of the Bill will be of some assistance. On an important note, Ireland has achieved significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in recent years and is expected to comply with its reduction obligations under the Kyoto Protocol for the first commitment period, 2008 to 2012. By 2011, emissions from the transport sector had fallen to levels 22% below the 2007 peak. However, such reductions are due in large part to economic recession. Emissions from transport in 2011 were more than double those in 1990. By 2020, Ireland is required by the EU to reduce its emissions by 20% on 1990 levels. Clearly, we cannot rely on continuing recession to meet our long-term carbon reduction requirements. I hope that puts the challenge in context.

Transport is a significant sector in the climate challenge context. Emissions from the sector are almost 20% of the total. Emissions from both transport and agriculture account for almost 52% of total emissions. Significantly, transport and agriculture represent in excess of 70% of Ireland's emissions not accounted for under the emissions trading scheme. Even with the achievement of the most ambitious reduction scenarios such as renewable fuel penetration and electric vehicle roll-out for the transport sector, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, estimates that transport and agricultural emissions could increase by 12% by 2020. That represents the short-term challenge. For the longer term, EU leaders have endorsed the objective of reducing Europe's greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80% by 2050. In its 2011 White Paper on transport, the Commission set out a roadmap towards a competitive and resource efficient transport system. The roadmap contains 40 concrete initiatives to be implemented over the next decade to allow for the building of a competitive transport system that will increase mobility and remove major barriers in key areas while supporting growth and employment in the sector. The proposals aim to reduce dramatically Europe's dependence on imported oil in line with the wider goal of cutting carbon emissions by underpinning reductions of 60% in the transport sector by 2050.

The Bill being considered today proposes to put in place a low carbon national roadmap for Ireland. The roadmap, which is to be developed initially at sectoral level, will echo and be guided by EU initiatives, including those transport initiatives set out in the White Paper. It will have to be tailored to the Irish context to achieve the 2050 objectives. The sectoral roadmaps will also reflect existing domestic policy measures, which are already delivering considerable change. Many of these domestic measures are cross-cutting in nature. Transport accounts for one third of Ireland's energy requirement and energy related CO2 emissions, and it is vital we work closely with other key Departments represented before the joint committee today.

The main difficulty for transport is its almost total dependency on oil. Scarcity of oil and volatility in oil prices, along with environmental concerns, are acting as major catalysts in our drive towards efficiency combined with our search for viable alternatives to oil.

Advances in engine technology have provided significant dividends in fuel efficiency and, this, combined with a rebalancing of motor tax and VRT, vehicle registration tax, in 2008, has led to a major shift in the purchasing decisions of private car owners in Ireland.

Tax reform is very useful for incentivising the take-up of efficient technologies but regulation can also play a role. A good example of such regulation is the bio-fuels obligation scheme. The Government introduced a bio-fuels obligation to ensure a certain percentage of the transport fuel used in the State consists of bio-fuels. Since 1 January 2013, the percentage of bio-fuels to be contained in transport fuel was increased from 4% to 6%. It is expected that this scheme will be a key component in achieving a 10% penetration of renewable energy in transport by 2020.

Underpinning these measures is an overarching policy that seeks to develop a future-proofed sustainable transport system that serves the economic, societal and environmental needs of the country. Existing measures being undertaken and supported by the Department span the aviation, land transport and maritime sectors. They focus on encouraging smarter travel, on delivering alternative travel options and improving the overall efficiency of motorised transport in general.

In terms of smarter travel and alternative transport options, the long-term successes of the measures, while ongoing, will be very reliant on an integrated approach to transport and spatial planning. My colleagues from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government will be at the forefront of delivering such integration in developing a new national spatial strategy. By creating compact, accessible urban environments, people will be in a better position to walk and cycle from home to avail of local education, employment and retail services. We could also expect that people who are living in a better planned environment will be the ultimate beneficiaries of a more targeted and efficient public transport system.

The Department, with its agencies, is heavily involved in the promotion of more sustainable modes of transport through funding programmes that are delivering high-quality walking and cycling infrastructure across the country. A key goal for the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport is to reduce overall travel demand and commuting distances travelled by private car and these types of programmes support that goal. The foregoing are just some of the measures, initiatives and programmes under way and most will play some role in the development of a national low carbon roadmap.

In drawing up the roadmap, in line with the proposed legislation being discussed today, the Department intends launching an initial public consultation phase in the summer by seeking submissions to a thematic paper on key policy considerations in the transport sector. Subsequent to this phase and consideration of submissions, the Department hopes to draw up an initial roadmap for consultation with other Departments, including those represented here today, later this year. Any measures included in the roadmap would need to have regard to other Government policies, as well as any research or data that is available on the transport sector such as the report, Ireland and the Climate Change Challenge, prepared by the National Economic and Social Council. Within the transport sphere, that report recognised the centrality of technology development, such as engine improvements, electric vehicles, gas-based vehicles and ICT, that could be exploited for the benefit of a more sustainable transport sector. Of course, we will also look to Europe and beyond and consider where we could find synergies in developments as they occur across the EU.

Achieving sustainable transport will require a suite of actions that will have complementary impacts on travel demand and emissions. This will be a challenging exercise but it is one that we are committed to undertake in co-operation with all key stakeholders and Departments to ensure we set out the necessary steps to achieving a low carbon future for Ireland.