Mr. Brian Carroll:

I thank the Deputy. As to the process now, the ambition of the two proposals being considered by the committee today is that a general approach will be agreed in December and that a new EU-wide target will be submitted then by the EU as its nationally determined contribution, NDC, to the Paris Agreement. After that a trilogue is likely to commence in the new year on the proposals coming from the European Parliament to amend the regulations and the EU has promised to bring forward by June of next year a whole series of legislative proposals to give effect to the European climate law, to include the revised 2030 target.

As to how this will impact in Ireland, our existing legally-binding obligation is in the non-ETS sector, which is a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Separately, and this was a piece I had intended to mention in response to Deputy Bruton’s question, in the programme for Government we have committed to an average of 7% per annum reduction in greenhouse gases over the coming decade based on a 2018 baseline. When one compares that level of ambition against the new EU target, the level of ambition in the programme for Government is coming out somewhere between 55% and 60%. As to how this will translate for a new legal obligation for Ireland-----