Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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56. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the measures taken to avert the possibility of heavy fines being imposed on Ireland for exceeding CO2 emission targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29934/17]

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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I ask the Minister what measures are being taken to avert the possibility of heavy fines being imposed on this State for exceeding CO₂emission targets.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I thank Deputy Barry. As I have indicated in my previous response to these questions, the release of the latest projections of greenhouse gas emissions by the Environmental Protection Agency on 13 April 2017 clearly indicated the enormous challenge facing Ireland to reduce its emissions. The projections indicate that emissions from those sectors of the economy not covered by the EU emissions trading system, ETS, could be between 4% and 6% below 2005 levels by 2020 - a deteriorating position in respect of the achievement of Ireland’s targets for 2020 when compared with previous projections. Though not unexpected, given the welcome return to economic growth in Ireland, it nevertheless confirms that Ireland’s greenhouse emissions continue to track broader trends in the economy and serves to underline the difficult decisions ahead of us as we try to reduce emissions in line with our international commitments.

In relation to the targets for 2020, Ireland has an emissions reduction target for each year between 2013 and 2020 under the 2009 EU effort sharing decision. For 2020 itself, the target set for Ireland is that emissions should be 20% below their level in 2005. This will be Ireland’s contribution to the overall EU objective to reduce its emissions by the order of 20% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. Ireland’s target is jointly the most demanding 2020 reduction target allocated to EU member states under this decision, which is shared only with Denmark and Luxembourg.

The projected shortfall to our targets in 2020 reflects both the constrained investment capacity over the past decade due to the economic crisis and the extremely challenging nature of the target itself. In fact, it is now accepted that Ireland’s 2020 target was not consistent with what would be achievable on an EU-wide cost-effective basis.

In order to maximise Ireland's emissions reductions and address the gap to the 2020 target, it will also be necessary to pursue other available options, in addition to the introduction of further policies and measures planned through the national mitigation plan.

The legislative framework governing the EU's 2020 emissions reduction targets includes a number of flexibility mechanisms to enable member states to meet their annual emissions targets, including provisions to bank any excess allowances to future years and to trade allowances between member states. Using our banked emissions from the period to 2015, Ireland is projected to comply with its emission reduction targets in each of the years 2013 to 2018. However, our cumulative emissions are expected to exceed targets for 2019 and 2020, which will result in a requirement to purchase additional allowances. While this purchasing requirement is not, at this stage, expected to be significant, further analysis will be required to quantify the likely costs involved in light of the final amount and the price of allowances required.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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I did not hear many solutions there. I did hear many excuses. Are the Minister and the Government au faitwith the seriousness of the potential fines they could be bringing down on the country? Joseph Curtin from the Institute of International and European Affairs says the country could face fines of €610 million by 2020. That is money that could otherwise be invested in health, education and a better life for our people. He has not ruled out that by 2030 fines of €5.5 billion could be levied on this country.

The Minister has produced an outline national mitigation plan that has been described by An Taisce as too little, too late and an unmitigated failure. It has been described by Friends of the Earth as having complete inadequacy. Will the Minister outline some concrete proposals and not a litany of excuses?

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The big issue with potential penalties is not on our emissions target. Nothing has been set in stone yet, but it relates to not meeting our renewable energy targets. That is naturally enough a further concern for us. Based on the evidence available to me at the moment, I believe we will reach our renewable electricity target, but heat and transport are two challenging areas. Within the next few weeks I intend to bring proposals to Government on a renewable heat incentive scheme, which is very different from the one proposed in Northern Ireland, in order that we can get as close as possible to our 12% target for renewable heat.

On transport, we have increased the biofuel blend in our transport fuels, which will get us quite close to our transport target as well. However, we need to make further efforts on our emissions targets and our renewable energy targets. Every effort needs to be made, not just on our 2020 targets but our 2030 targets which will be far more challenging.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister must respect the time. Deputy Barry has one minute.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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As the Minister mentioned transport targets, let us talk about transport. Transport emissions increased by 4% in 2015. It is estimated that they may increase by as much as 10% by 2020. That is not surprising when the Government spends twice as much on roads as it does on public transport. That is the plan. Public transport should get a major boost if we are serious about reaching the climate targets. Despite this, we are told that Iarnród Éireann is on the verge of bankruptcy, and both Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus receive just a fraction of the subsidy similar companies in other European countries receive. All three of the major public transport companies receive State subsidies that are significantly less than in 2008. There is something that could be done straight away - a major increase in spending on public transport. Will the Minister comment on that?

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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Will he also comment on the fact Ireland is one of two European Union countries that are least likely to meet their targets?

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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We clearly have challenges in meeting our transport targets, partly because we have a very large rural population. That is why the roll-out of the national broadband plan is so critical in this. It will reduce the need for people to travel to work. They can work from home or work closer to their own home. It is one innovative step we can take to reduce our overall emissions. Biofuels represent the main plank in this regard. As of 1 January, we have increased the blend of biofuels in our transport fuels to 8%. We will increase that again to 9%. We are exploring going beyond that again.

Public transport plays a role in that, as do the greenways. It is about having a unique set of measures to deal with the specific challenges Ireland has and about all of us working together in this regard. That is why the national dialogue is so important to have real engagement with all the players from every community in the country to come up with practical solutions that will feed into the mitigation plan.