Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is fair to say that everyone in the House acknowledges the scale of the climate change challenge facing Ireland and the level of transformation required if we are to see a meaningful decrease in greenhouse gas emissions. That challenge needed a step up in ambition and renewed determination across Government and society to tackle climate disruption. The climate action plan gives us this required level of focus and drive. For my part, I am strongly committed to ensuring that decarbonising transport remains a key priority and that the sector continues to contribute to our national decarbonisation efforts.

The transport sector accounts for a little over one quarter of Ireland's non-ETS emissions, and there can be no question but that transport must feature strongly in our approach to tackling the problem. A wide-ranging set of bold and challenging actions for transport is set out in the climate action plan, particularly in the areas of public transport and active travel. I want to make sure that public and active travel options are a viable alternative for as many people as possible and for more of their journeys than ever before.

I am ambitious to ensure that, between now and 2035, more than half a million extra journeys per day will be taken either on public transport or by walking and cycling. This ambition is supported by the €8.6 billion investment secured under Project Ireland 2040 for sustainable mobility. This investment in new public transport and active travel projects is well above that for new roads, which is a reversal of the balance of investment in these two areas. An investment of €8.6 billion is transformative. It will be used to greatly expand our public and active travel range through key projects such as BusConnects, MetroLink and DART expansion, as well as enhancing the cycling and walking infrastructure in all our major cities. We have a clear plan of action for improving and greening our public and active travel offerings.

With more than half of transport emissions coming from private cars, we must work harder to shift people from using their private cars to greener ways of travel. However, this can tackle only a limited set of journeys and emissions. To really reduce transport emissions, we must decarbonise private cars. Globally, electric vehicles are the leading solution to the decarbonisation problem. It is the Government's job to ensure that conditions and policies are in place to support citizens in making the greener choice and selecting electric vehicles, now and in the years to come. Through a combination of incentives and a positive policy environment, we have seen sales of electric cars increase and there are now approximately 11,500 electric vehicles registered.

We know the technology is getting better. Driving ranges are improving, more models are becoming available and, most importantly, the cars themselves are becoming cheaper. As the technology gets better and cheaper, we will continue incentives and investment in the charging network. We are ambitious that, with a real push, we can make progress towards getting the electric vehicles we need on the road by 2030.

That target of almost 950,000 vehicles is a very challenging one and demonstrates the scale of transformation required across all sectors if Ireland is to reduce national emissions and reach its legally binding emission ceilings. Now is not the time to underestimate the size of the task ahead: it is the time for action.

As we have done with the low emissions vehicles task force, my Department and I will work closely with the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Bruton, and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, and their Departments to map out the new policy pathway that will be necessary. It will, of course, require widespread support to be effective and I am committed to ensuring that the necessary broad consultations will take place.

I am strongly committed to the decarbonisation of transport agenda and, as we saw last year, I hope to see further falls in transport emissions in the years ahead. Every sector must step up to the challenge if Ireland is to get on track for 2030 and beyond.

I commend the Minister, Deputy Bruton, for bringing this plan to fruition and look forward to working closely with him and my fellow Ministers to ensure the plan's success and place Ireland on the right trajectory to tackle climate disruption.

See this speech in context