Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Those targets will probably not be ambitious enough. My sense from yesterday's European Council meeting is that there was a clear majority of Ministers representing a majority of states and population who were willing to look at a higher reduction target than 40% but a reduction of 50% to 55%. It has not been possible to get European Union agreement on it yet but I believe that it is close and must be achieved by the end of the year.

That will have knock-on consequences. To achieve the 32% target for renewables or the 32.5% efficiency target, it will not be sufficient to meet the higher target. It will require raising ambition across all sectors. Both the European climate Bill and our own legislation will focus on the net-zero target for 2050. It is then the job of the climate advisory committee to the Government and all bodies to set out the series of five-year trajectories that will allow us to meet that higher target.

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