Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister referred to the 2050 net zero target. The more immediate target is the 2030 target. We are talking about going from 60 million tonnes to 33 million tonnes, approximately. The question then in terms of policy interventions by 2030 is how we achieve that target. For instance, is the Minister's stated policy ambition to take diesel cars out of the equation by 2030 still a stated policy intervention? Is it still on the cards? Furthermore, there has been some discussion about ring-fencing the carbon budget, for instance, or ring-fencing carbon tax.

People are asking what that means in real terms for citizens. Does it mean the aforementioned fee-and-dividend model, which is doing the rounds in public discourse at the moment, is a real prospect in terms of Government formation? Will there be ring-fencing for key projects to deliver the reduction in emissions that is so badly needed?

See this speech in context