Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Minister's pardon because my voice is a bit weak. I will use it, however, to say to the Minister that I do not believe the plan fulfils the legal requirement as he said because so many important sources are disputing this point with him. Examples include the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, Professor John Sweeney, Professor Barry McMullin and An Taisce. They have all said that every measure promised is being kicked down the road and we are set to not reach our targets. We must dig down into what is going on here because the EPA last year confirmed that up to the second quarter of 2022 Ireland's emissions once again grew, making us the biggest emitter per capita in the EU. We do not have a plan that has a hope or an ambition of staying within the law. The emissions are now on track to exceed the combined ten-year target budget by 23% to 36%.

I know I bang on about this a lot, but specifically regarding the electricity sector, the Minister's claim that every home will be heated by renewable energy by 2030 is delusional. This is particularly the case given what is happening in the data centres sector. A series of gas-fired generators have just been ordered to plug a hole caused by the surge in demand from data centres and their proliferation. The Minister referred to a rapidly-growing economy. This is one area of rapid growth in our economy that we could do without. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, confirmed this week that another 16 data centres, eight of them mega data centres, are to be connected to the national grid in the next couple of years. It seems the strategy, therefore, is to kick the can down the road.

While there is a great focus on the target for 2030, there is not enough focus on the immediate targets and what we are reaching in this regard. We looked over the plan and mention of "2030" appears 279 times in the document. By comparison, "2025" appears only 184 times. This would seem to confirm that the emphasis is to meet a notional and still conveniently remote 2030 target of reducing emissions by 51% on a 2018 base year. I think this means we are failing to live within the budget. What matters most is that the wasted opportunity and the failure to live within this budget will mean the next Government will have to meet these legal obligations. This will pose great difficulties, given the restricted allocation for the second five-year period. This is a question that needs to be answered. I ask the Minister to try to address it. I also repeat the point concerning LULUCF. There is no plan for it and no ceiling has been established for the sector. How can we say this target has been reached when it has been omitted? I think it is impossible for the Minister to stand over that statement.