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

The Climate Action Plan 2021 set out policies, measures and actions to support the achievement of Ireland's legally-binding emissions reduction targets for 2030 and 2050. The 2021 plan was a cross-departmental effort with inputs and commitments from a range of Departments and State agencies. It provided indicative ranges of emissions reductions required for each sector of the economy to reach our 2030 target while also setting out the actions needed to deliver these targets.

A review of the national development plan, NDP, was undertaken by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in October 2021 and an assessment was provided on the contribution that Exchequer-funded capital spending in the NDP will make to seven climate and environmental outcomes, namely, climate mitigation, climate adaptation, water quality, air quality, waste and circular economy, nature and biodiversity and the just transition. Priority investment programmes included in the NDP were assessed on the above environmental outcomes and given a score of +3 to +1 if the estimated impact was positive, 0 if it was neutral and -1 to -3 if negative. Departments were initially asked to self-assess their programmes based on the criteria above and those scores were reviewed by a panel of experts across the public sector.

It was not the role of the NDP review to set out a specific blueprint for the achievement of the climate action plan actions nor is it the role of my Department to undertake an audit on the capital infrastructure projects contained within the NDP. Rather, Departments in receipt of the capital investment allocations are directly responsible for developing a detailed suite of policies and measures to maximise the impact of this planned investment in delivering actions and achieving targets detailed in the climate action plan, including staying within the sectoral emissions ceilings agreed by the Government last July. Furthermore, in bringing forward proposals for consideration, Departments must set out for the Government the climate impact of those proposals.

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