Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Ceann Comhairle will have complete support from my party in the work that needs to be done in response to the report laid before the Oireachtas today. We look forward to an appropriate debate later this afternoon on the contents of that report.

The EPA report on the 2018 emissions outcome reinforces the importance of implementing the climate action plan, which, as the Deputy will be aware, was designed and published after 2018. Ireland has drifted off target, and we must implement a decisive policy shift each and every year. That is what we are committed to doing. The 2020 budget was an important watershed in that regard. Earlier this year, the Government published the climate action plan, which sets out the actions we need to take to ensure we meet our 2030 climate commitments, putting us on a trajectory to net zero emissions by 2050.

I welcome the EPA's report today, for our plan, which is a roadmap forward to decarbonise and secure a sustainable and more resilient Ireland for future generations.

The figures released today reflect the position prior to the publication of the national climate action plan. While the EPA statement today shows that emissions have fallen for the second year in a row, the decrease is too small and is driven, as the Deputy correctly said, by some temporary occurrences, primarily the temporary closure of Moneypoint in 2018. We still saw an increase in emissions from households and in transport and agriculture last year.

I note the commitments of the EPA today, which call for the swift implementation of the action plan. This is our pathway forward and today's results underline the urgency of implementing those actions in full across the Government. Quite frankly, we will need the support of Fianna Fáil in our efforts to do that, as the Government seeks support in the House to make the changes necessary.

The Minister, Deputy Bruton, has taken a new and different approach. He has only been in office for 12 months and has made an extraordinary impact in changing the approach to climate policy in Ireland, and the Government will continue to see that plan through.

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