Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

We have to do this for Europe by Christmas and we have known that for three years. The European package was agreed by the Government in October 2014. I have seen up close the Departments' work up in providing analysis ,in a really heroic way, within short timelines. We need that level of ambition and heroic endeavour here so that by 30 November - in advance of Christmas because it is not that far away - we can look at some of the options. Could we commit to that?

We know from the modelling that has been done that the national development plan does not close the gap. Much of what it does takes us in the wrong direction or does not take us far enough. I will provide a number of examples. We have heard here about the importance of retrofitting. It is a brilliant investment. It is the lowest cost abatement curve. I can say that in advance. There is an endless number of reports that I could wheel out to show that retrofitting of energy efficiency buildings is the lowest cost carbon. We have €4 billion in the budget for that. Andrew McDowell, the head of the EIB, was in Dublin last week and stated that we need a budget of €50 billion. John FitzGerald stated that for social housing alone we need a budget of €5 billion. The OPW has stated that we are nowhere near meeting our energy efficiency targets in respect of public buildings. The numbers that were mentioned in Mr. Watt's presentation are a minute percentage of what we should be doing. That €4 billion will not be enough. We will have to change the national development plan.

I am speaking as a Dublin person but what is going on in transport is an absolute crime. It is a continuation of what Mr. Watt said about our sprawl because in Dublin we are widening the N11, the N7, the N6, the N4, the N3 and the N2. Mr. Watt correctly stated that the big problem is the sprawl model. The national planning framework said the right thing, which is that we were going to move away from it. The national development plan forgot that and threw it out. The only thing we are building this year is roads. We have no public transport projects in train. There is not a single cycling project under construction. It is the same again next year. That has to change. There is nothing about forestry or the new circular economy in the national development plan. Does Mr. Watt agree if we are going to be serious about our climate task that the national development plan will have to change?