Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The report the Deputy refers to has only been published in the last hour or so. Neither I nor my staff have had an opportunity to read it. I am informed it is a ranking assessment published by three NGOs. It is not an official report and has no status other than as a commentary on individual countries' climate policies. In this respect, the commentary, while it purports to assess countries' national and international climate policies, provides little information on the basis for the compiling of the ranking. With regard to Ireland's performance against emission targets for 2020 under the EU effort-sharing decision, the Government has been very upfront that Ireland expects to miss these targets. Ireland will not be alone among EU member states in that regard. The latest projections of greenhouse gas emissions by the Environmental Protection Agency indicate Ireland's emissions in sectors covered by our EU targets could be between 4% and 6% below 2005 levels.

The projected shortfall in our targets in 2020 reflects both the constrained investment capacity over the past decade due to the economic crisis and the extremely challenging nature of the target. It is now accepted that Ireland's 2020 target was not consistent with what would have been achievable on an EU-wide cost-effective basis. Notwithstanding this projected shortfall, Ireland's first statutory national mitigation plan, which the Government published in July 2017, provides a framework to guide investment decisions by Government in domestic measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The plan sets out what is being done and what it is planned to do to further the national transition objectives set out in the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act. This first plan will not provide a complete roadmap to achieve the national transition objectives. It begins the process of the development of medium to long-term options to ensure we are well-positioned to take the necessary actions in the next few decades.

The national planning framework is a draft. I do not accept the Deputy's characterisation of it. The national planning framework goes against continued sprawl. It argues for a major increase in population in our existing cities in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway. It calls for a population increase of 40% to 50% in Limerick, for example, a city in which there has been virtually no population growth in recent years. Why does it call for that? It is because it makes sense from a planning and climate change point of view to have more people living more densely in urban settlements. It means less commuting and driving and more people walking and using public transport.

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