Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

They are good questions. This pattern is always a challenge: wanting to do something in one's own country while the EU is doing something on a general level. How does one reconcile the two? One option is to sit back and wait for the EU to do something and then try to row in with it. We are quite far behind. A previous Taoiseach described us as a climate laggard. We do not have the luxury of sitting back and saying let us wait and see what comes out of Fit for 55 when it is due. We have our own ambition which is a 51% reduction by 2030 and we must get on with it. We are already at the back of the race and we need to catch up. How will those things reconcile? Deputy Ryan, who is not here because he has gone to Luxembourg to discuss this with the other environment ministers, will work out those details.

The ETS targets are likely to be tightened, Deputy Bruton is correct, in order to meet the Fit for 55 targets. Many other environmental pieces of legislation are likely to come into force in all sectors, in addition to legislation that affects biodiversity and everything else. There are likely to be targets to do with recycling and the circular economy. This is likely to happen in the coming years and we cannot predict when the legislative changes will be made at EU level. It is clear what is the strategic direction of travel. It is to reduce emissions by a large amount and to protect the environment. That is the direction this Bill goes in. We may have to reconcile it with EU rules. What we have here is very ambitious legislation. If we implement it, we will be in a much stronger position to comply with any European high-ambition legislation that comes down the tracks.