Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 14 November 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed)

1:59 pm

Mr. Robert Watt:

That might be a pedantic point, but it is critical here. It is a compliance cost. I do not want to contradict my colleagues in the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment because they are the experts. There is a shortfall of 17 million tonnes for 2020. We have bought approximately 5 million credits. The market price per tonne up to 2020 is negligible. The price has fallen through the floor. The compliance costs for this period are negligible. They are neither here nor there. Based on the projections we are looking at, there will be a shortfall of approximately 100 million tonnes for 2030. We do not know what the final figure will be, but that is not a bad estimate based on business as usual and where we are. We need to work through the full impact of some of the measures being taken by the Government to see what level of abatement they will deliver. We are looking at a shortfall of 100 million tonnes. One's estimate of the compliance cost depends on one's view of what the price will be.

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