Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The proposed amendment seeks to provide for the manner in which annual targets are set for the period 2015 to 2050. I do not accept the validity of establishing domestic mitigation targets divorced from EU processes. That is because Ireland is already subject to legally binding greenhouse gas mitigation targets up to 2020. Negotiations are currently ongoing at an EU level to agree mitigation targets for all member states up to 2030. This process of target setting will likely continue up to 2050. Accordingly, putting in place our own statutory mitigation targets would likely cut across and interfere with the EU's target-setting process. As a consequence, therefore, I cannot support the amendment.

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