Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will pick up on a couple of those points. The key one we are focused on is the carbon budgets and 2025. As has been said, there have been many references to 2030 and the 51% target in that year. However, we are not simply looking at the percentage reductions but the hard tonnage with respect to the actual amount of carbon emissions tonnage the State must operate within during the two different five-year budgets. As we have begun to have our engagement with individual Ministers, I have become a little concerned we are hearing a lot about individual schemes, plans, pilots, demonstrations, and assessments but there does not seem to be an understanding in Departments that the achievement of the targets will ultimately be measured in tonnages and physical amounts of emissions. That is something that now needs to be attached to policy.

On the 295 tonnes, which is the budget up to 2025, it seems we are off target from the figures from 2021. Will the Minister address what specifically is going to be done about that target, namely, the 295 tonnes as our limit for 2025? What are the measures that could be scaled up or even the emergency measures we might need to take in order to achieve that? For example, budget 2025 is not very far away, in September of next year. It will be the budget for the final year in which we have the opportunity to meet. Is it clear emergency and key measures will be included in the normal finance budget for 2025 to ensure we achieve our carbon budget targets by the end of 2025? Again, the plan speaks about where we need to be in the year 2025 but the budget covers the full year and in some sectors we know we are looking at massive expansion.

LULUCF was mentioned. The Department is looking at that, but there are measures that could have an impact much earlier. I wonder why these are not being scaled up. Is the plan to scale them up dramatically next year in order to stay within the budget? The Minister said he did not want to put a figure but the space allocated, which is 20 megatonnes, seems very inadequate to that sector. In that context, will we look at putting a stop to felling for a period, particularly as there are multiple felling licences and that contributes and making us a net emitter? Will we look at scaling up peatland restoration in the next two years from hundreds of millions of euro's worth of funding to billions of euro's worth, which is what we are looking at spending on forestry? What emergency measures are being looked at? Will we look at moratoriums on certain forms of economic activity during that period to 2025? What does staying within the budget of 295 tonnes for 2025 look like? What does meeting those targets look like? I am quite concerned we are off beam.