Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I respectfully refer the Deputy to the response of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, some days ago in the House in respect of the guidelines.

The Deputy referred to renewable energy. The options include solar, biomass and offshore wind. A range of technologies are coming down the tracks. Some are at a higher level of development than others but they will all feature. There will be a good discussion and treatment of these issues in the White Paper.

We have to transition to a low-carbon economy and we need to do so by 2050. That is the ambition we have set ourselves. The Deputy may recall that recently the G7 held out the aspiration to have a carbon-free world by the end of this century. I believe this is a correct aspiration and an appropriate one. That is the measure of the ambition that all of us need to look to for our children and grandchildren. We need to decarbonise. The energy policy I am responsible for will align with that ambitious target. The first targets, though, are those we must comply with by 2020. We have made good progress, particularly on the electricity side, but we need to make more progress on heat and transport.

The White Paper will have high level treatment of the plans for 2030 out to 2050.

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