Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I want to bring it back to basics a little bit. I appreciate the Minister is talking about problems with delivering on climate action. I understand there are a number of significant challenges in that regard. I also do not want to undermine the work that has been done and the fact there has been progress in some areas.

I want to bring it back to the Climate Action Plan 2023, however, which is essentially a document that sets the pathway for Ireland to meet its emissions targets by 2030. It is the place where all the plans and policies of Government are collated that will enable it to deal with the actions that will be undertaken to meet those targets. What we have heard repeatedly from the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, is that the climate action plan itself is not ambitious enough. The policies detailed with the climate action plan will not be enough for us to meet our targets. This is nothing to do with deliverability. This is assuming 100% delivery of each of those policies, which we know is going to be challenge, and that even if every single one of those policies were delivered, the climate action plan would still only represent a 29% reduction in climate emissions versus the 51% we require. Last year, a similar analysis foresaw that it would only be 28%. We are not, therefore, seeing a huge amount of movement with each iteration of these climate action plans. This is the question for the Minister. We will have another climate action plan shortly. Will the policies outlined in that climate action plan add up to a 51% reduction? What are the additional policies that will be incorporated in order for us to meet that 51%?