Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)

The Taoiseach delivered a strong speech to an international audience in Belém last week, yet back home today, the Climate Change Advisory Council concluded Ireland would overshoot its first carbon budget by 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. The report has really highlighted Ireland's addiction to fossil fuels as a key reason the carbon budget will not be met. This Saturday, thousands of people will join the national climate demonstration, focusing on how Ireland's fossil fuel addiction remains a huge risk to affordability because it leaves Irish householders exceedingly exposed to spikes in gas and oil prices like those we saw after the Ukraine war.

The Climate Change Advisory Council has a clear recommendation: the Government should conduct a full review of national energy taxes and fossil fuel subsidies and reform the system fairly in advance of budget 2027. There is a year in which to do this work. Will the Government listen to the recommendation from the climate council?

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