John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I refer to my first carbon budget statement on 6 December 2007 in which I presented an overview of greenhouse gas emissions to date and how they are expected to develop over the next five years. I related these to the programme for Government commitment of an annual average reduction of 3% in emissions, which would equate to a target of 64 million tonnes for our average emissions over the 2008-12 period.

The carbon budget showed that the measures in the national climate change strategy, along with further measures announced since the Government took office, were projected to reduce annual average emissions to 65.6 million tonnes over the 2008-12 period, leaving a gap of around 1.6 million tonnes still to be bridged.

I also outlined the further steps we are taking to deliver more reductions in emissions and which will take us closer to the 3% target. The more successful we are in closing that gap, the less we will have to spend on carbon credits in order to comply with our Kyoto Protocol commitments.

The 2007 carbon budget was only a first step and efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will be an ongoing and central feature of the work of Government across every sector. Through the Cabinet Committee on Climate Change and Energy Security, my ministerial colleagues and I are looking at what more can be done in the sectors for which we have responsibility. The annual carbon budget will draw together the progress made on developing further policies and measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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