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

-----between official statistics and those that are calculated by an NGO or an advocacy group that has a particular agenda.

What is undeniable is that we are very much off track in terms of meeting our emissions targets for 2020 and indeed, for 2030. It is for that exact reason that the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Bruton, has been tasked with developing an all-of-Government climate action plan. That is being developed at present and will be ready in the first quarter of next year. It will follow a similar model to the one he pursued with his action plan for education, which, everyone accepts, has helped to bring about vast improvements in education in recent years, and the Action Plan for Jobs, which helped to get us where we are today, moving from high unemployment to almost full employment.

We estimate that the implementation of Project Ireland 2040 will bring us approximately one third of the way to meeting our greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. It is only part of the solution and other solutions will also be required, including regulation, investment in technologies, taxation and behavioural change. Nobody is suggesting that Project Ireland 2040 on its own will solve climate change. We acknowledge that some projects may actually contribute to climate change, including, for example, some of the road projects listed. However, we would defend those projects because we think it makes sense to connect Cork and Limerick by motorway, connecting Limerick to Galway and other areas along the west coast.

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