Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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44. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to set out the expected emissions from the transport sector in 2020 and 2030; and the reason the national mitigation plan has a number of gaps relating to reductions in emissions from the transport sector. [22362/17]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I am asking the Minister about his ambition in terms of the transport contribution to reduce climate change emissions. Everyone else is saying that they are going to expand. The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport was absent without leave at the recent formation of the national climate mitigation plan. We can see it in the plan. Large sectors are supposedly going to have plans to reduce emissions, but there is nothing from the transport sector.

I am keen to hear the view of the Minister and the Department. What does the Minister believe his responsibility to be? What target is the Minister setting himself for emissions in 2020 and 2030? How does he envisage achieving it? Everyone else in the system is coming with one message: the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has opted out. I do not believe that is good enough.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I do not believe that is the case because the plan has not been published. I do not know how Deputy Eamon Ryan can say that.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The draft plan was published-----

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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A draft plan is very different to a final plan.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I look forward to hearing the details.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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Deputy Eamon Ryan will hear about the final plan in the coming weeks. He should not quote something to me that is not true. It has not happened yet. That is the Deputy's anticipation. I hope he will not be disappointed.

In order for Ireland to effectively and equitably contribute to the EU emissions reduction commitments in line with the Paris agreement and the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015, a low-carbon development strategy is being developed. My Department is working closely with the Departments of Communications, Climate Action and Environment and Agriculture, Food and the Marine to prepare this national mitigation plan. The responsibility for emissions reduction is collective and Ireland's emissions reduction targets are national rather than sectoral in nature. Transport is one of four key sectors requiring development of sectoral plans, each forming a key component of the overall national plan.

Ireland's first national mitigation plan will set out the challenges to meeting emissions reductions targets and chart a clear and quantified path towards Ireland's long-term objective of transition to a low-carbon and climate resilient economy by 2050. Transport will, of course, have to play a significant role in the national mitigation effort. Transport emissions are projected by the EPA to show growth over the period to 2020, with a 10% to 12% increase on 2015 levels. This reflects forecast strong economic growth and growing transport demand.

In 2015, transport accounted for 27% of Ireland's non-emissions trading scheme emissions. By 2020, under the EPA projected scenario of 10,000 electric vehicles on the road and further development of the biofuel obligation scheme, transport will have increased its projected sectoral share of non-emissions trading scheme greenhouse gas emissions to 29%, rising further to 32% by 2030.

A draft national mitigation plan, including transport proposals, was recently released as part of an extensive public consultation process. I figure that this draft plan is what Deputy Ryan is referring to, and that is fair enough. The public consultation has now come to a close and submissions are currently under review. Alongside this, officials in my Department have been working with key stakeholders such as the Climate Change Advisory Council in developing the proposed final transport elements. The measures under consideration for transport will be wide-ranging and will focus primarily on modal shift to public transport in urban areas, movement to alternatively-fuelled vehicles, and targeted behavioural change.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Is the Minister happy that the transport projected emissions are due to increased from 27% to 29%, then to 32% and to continue rising after that? If not, what does he intend to introduce that is not in the draft plan but that might start to reverse those figures? In the process, such measures should improve our economy and free us from the €2 billion congestion costs that we face in this city alone because of the absolute inadequacy of our investment in public transport, including cycling and walking infrastructure.

I was shocked when I looked at the draft plan because there is effectively next to nothing relating to cycling or other projects that could vastly improve capacity and help our cities to work. No such projects are funded by the Department at present. I was also shocked at a recent meeting of the Committee on Budgetary Oversight. The commissioning authority for new infrastructure admitted that there is not a single rail-based public transport project ready to go to tender that would influence how our emissions develop in the coming five, ten, 20 or 30 years.

If the Minister states that I have got it wrong and am just reading the draft plan, I have to put a question back to him. What will the Minister change in the final plan? What will the Minister change in his budget provisions so it is not 3:1 in favour of roads to public transport? How can the Minister state that we will introduce a smarter travel plan when he has no money in his budget for it? It cannot be built on thin air.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I know Deputy Ryan will hate this but he will have to wait until it is published. I am sorry but I cannot reveal it in advance and the Deputy will have to accept that. I will tell the Deputy the progress we are making and give him some broad outlines. This Friday, in accordance with the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015, I will submit the transport mitigation measures which I propose to adopt to the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Naughten, for inclusion in the national mitigation plan. The Minister will collate the mitigation measures from the four participating sectors, namely, agriculture, built environment, energy generation and transport, into a final draft of the first national mitigation plan. This will be considered by Government for approval and publication no later than 10 June.

I expect to include increasing the capacity and quality of public transport, particularly in urban areas; measures to encourage the transition to alternative fuels in private cars, electric vehicles and HGVs; using a green public transport fund to support the uptake of low-carbon energy-efficient technologies within the public transport sector; working with the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment on progressively increasing the biofuel obligation rate; and encouraging more efficient driving within HGV and bus fleets.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Of the measures the Minister mentioned and that I specifically cited are some of the projects which could be built next year. They could be included in the 2018 budget. They include projects such as a Dodder greenway, a Liffey cycle route or a Clontarf-to-the-city-centre cycle route. All those projects, which have been designed and planned for years, have no budget. If the Minister wishes to extend his list, he should take 10% of his budget for transport next year and put it into such cycling and pedestrian measures. They are achievable, deliverable and give huge bang for their buck in terms of making the city work again, as well as cutting our emissions.

Why did the Minister exclude that from the list of projects he is considering, given that it is the most practical, achievable and immediate response he could make? He should do it at scale and start putting hundreds of millions into that sort of investment rather than blowing everything on big intercity motorways and other roads, which we have done a lot of in the past 20 or 30 years.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister has no latitude this time. He has one minute.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for his latitude in the past few minutes. I have stated perfectly clearly that the Deputy will have to wait. He should not assume anything is omitted or included. However, he must not for one moment doubt our commitment. I have also stated that the Government investment must support emissions mitigation in the transport sector by financing additional public transport capacity; by using alternative fuels within the public transport sector; and funding leadership and demonstration projects and the uptake of alternative technologies.

The smarter travel initiative has been allocated €100 million in funding under the capital plan, Building on Recovery. I have made a strong case for public transport investment to be both increased and accelerated as part of the mid-term review of the capital plan to address ongoing transport needs. On the further development and promotion of cycling as a viable mode of transport, to which the Deputy referred, a review of the national cycle policy framework is currently under way and will be published later this year.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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We will move on to Deputy Clare Daly. It is no latitude day, Deputy.