Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Pringle stated that the plan does not take into account the human aspect and cost. One of the big problems is that we have not had an across-the-board economic analysis of the impact of climate change and its cost to the environment and society. The really frustrating aspect is that I, as Minister, was starting with a blank sheet. When the 20% targets were agreed, the then Ministers, John Gormley and Deputy Eamon Ryan, were pushing for a 30% target without having done an economic analysis of how we would achieve the 20% target and we now see the consequences. Now we are getting a 30% target based on cost-effectiveness. The Commission is taking that into account and acknowledging that cost-effectiveness must be part of it. The overall threshold across the EU is the same. The target is 40%. However, there must be an acknowledgement that the flexibility and the ability to do that varies across member states. There is far more flexibility in the emissions trading system where it is more cost-effective to make the changes, but sadly the bulk of our emissions are outside the emissions trading system.

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