Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I am conscious of the challenges we face in tackling climate change in the transport sector. The extent of this challenge and the scale of transformation required for Ireland to move to a low-carbon and climate resilient economy is becoming increasingly evident, never more so than now for our transport sector. Ireland is not unique in this. Across Europe, transport accounts for nearly 27% of all non-emissions trading system, ETS, emissions. Recent reports from the EPA have indicated a further growth in transport emissions by almost 4% in 2016. The progress we made in reducing transport emissions by 25% between 2007 and 2012 is being eroded by significant transport demand growth, only some of which is being met in the most efficient ways. Therefore, it is imperative that fundamental changes to our transport system be made, including how we travel and the types of fuel and technology that we use.

In 2016, four key measures reduced transport emissions in Ireland. First, our investment in the public and sustainable transport network led to an increase of almost 31 million journeys on subsidised public transport and commercial bus services since 2013. Second, as a result of the implementation of EU vehicle standard regulations limiting tailpipe emissions, new cars entering the fleet are now approximately 25% more energy efficient than they were in 2007. Furthermore, the redesign of the VRT and motor tax regimes in 2008 to be based on CO2 emissions rather than engine size had a positive effect by changing buyer behaviour and encouraging the uptake of low-emission vehicles. Finally, the introduction of a biofuel obligation scheme to incorporate sustainable fuel into our conventional fuel mix has substantially decreased transport emissions. In 2015 alone, this biofuel measure reduced CO2 emissions by 356 kilotonnes.

Our national mitigation plan has firmly established the Government's commitment to work towards our national decarbonisation objective. Transport will play a significant role in the national mitigation effort and has already made positive progress. Twenty-four transport mitigation measures have been set out, with 29 associated actions. As is the nature of the plan across all sectors, these measures do not signify a complete roadmap for our mitigation efforts, but a representation of where we are now and what we can achieve.

Continued investment in public and sustainable transport remains the cornerstone of our mitigation response. We continually seek to improve the quality and capacity of our transport network and encourage modal shift away from private car use. In Dublin alone, more than two thirds of all journeys into the city centre are now made on foot, by bicycle or by public transport, representing an increase of over 10% in the past six years.

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