Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 10, inclusive, together.

The Cabinet committee on the environment and climate change last met on Wednesday, 8 December, and is next scheduled to meet on Monday, 21 February. This Cabinet committee oversees the implementation of the ambitious programme for Government commitments in relation to the environment and climate change. The key climate change commitments are now reflected in the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021, which sets out challenging carbon reduction targets for 2030 and the added statutory commitment of achieving a climate-neutral economy by 2050.

As part of its remit under that legislation, the Climate Change Advisory Council has proposed three five-year carbon budgets for the period until 2035. The carbon budgets are the overall, economy-wide emissions ceiling that we must work within if we are to achieve our reduction targets for 2030 and beyond. The proposals by the advisory council have been considered by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Climate Action, which yesterday published its recommendations. Over the coming weeks, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, having considered these recommendations and the original proposal by the advisory council, will bring a proposal to the Government on determining these budgets. When the budgets are agreed, the Government will then proceed to setting sectoral emission ceilings. These will determine the upper limits of emissions for each sector, which when added together must keep within the overall carbon budget.

Agreed policies and measures designed to ensure that sectors quickly and significantly reduce their emissions have been set out in the Climate Action Plan 2021, which was published by the Government before Christmas. The plan will be further revised this year to ensure the actions it contains are sufficient to meet the reduction targets that will have been made explicit through the setting of the carbon budgets and sectoral emissions ceilings.

Climate change is a profound challenge for this planet and Ireland must play its full part in addressing it. Just as the threats of climate change will touch each of us, the journey towards carbon neutrality on which we have now embarked will require all of our efforts. We have much to gain. We in government will take the lead and provide support where we can. Ministers will now be answerable for their performance on emissions reductions and ensuring that the sectors for which they are responsible play their part in cutting greenhouse gases. However, this is a shared journey. It will challenge us all to rethink how we work, how we live, how we heat our homes and buildings, how we grow our food and manage our land, and how we travel. Opportunities abound if we have the confidence to grasp them.

The Cabinet committee on the environment and climate change will continue to meet regularly throughout 2022 to progress all these aspects of the Government's ambitious climate action and environmental policies.

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