James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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104. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his views on the recently published national climate change risk assessment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30710/25]

Naoise Ó Muirí (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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What are the Minister's views on the recently published national climate change risk assessment as published by the EPA?

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for his question. I welcome the publication of Ireland's first national climate change risk assessment. We can already see the effects of climate change through the impact of storms including Babet, Darragh and, most recently, Éowyn. Attribution studies inform us that climate change is adding significantly to the strength of these extreme weather events. Adapting to the new reality and building resilience to the impact of climate change is critical. The Government is committed to protecting Ireland’s present and future generations by developing climate adaptation measures to manage the impact of extreme weather events. We recognise the need to support communities, businesses and ecosystems as climate risks continue to rise.

Last year, the Government approved Ireland’s second national adaptation framework. The national climate change risk assessment is a key deliverable under this framework. The risk assessment is a significant piece of work that will support our understanding of the risks of climate change and will help the Government to prioritise actions and direct resources to counter the risks that we must deal with most urgently into the future.

My Department is leading on the national co-ordination of sectoral adaptation actions to ensure cross-cutting issues are identified and addressed. Across Government, 15 sectoral adaptation plans, SAPs, will be completed this year. These will set out the extensive adaptation actions and measures that will be actioned over the next few years and that the sectors will build into their long-terms plans. The risk assessment provides the necessary evidence base to inform and support this work.

Naoise Ó Muirí (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I read the EPA report. It is a little unexciting - that may be the way to put it.

There are four really good priority risks identified well in the report. These include the risk of disruption and damage to energy transmission and distribution infrastructure due to extreme wind, which is exactly what happened during Storm Éowyn. There is a similar risk to communications, which is also what happened with Storm Éowyn. To be fair, the ESB was a lot faster than the telecommunications providers in their response and that is something that must be looked at. There is also risk of disruption, damage and loss of transport infrastructure due to sea level rises and coastal flooding, as well as risk of damage and loss of buildings due to sea level rise, coastal erosion and coastal flooding. The latter is a problem in Dublin. Clontarf, in my own area, has been exposed for a long time. There are efforts afoot, and have been for a long time, to put a defence in place there.

The report signposts some very good priority actions. What is the mechanism by which they will be implemented? The Minister of State mentioned the new adaptation framework which is welcome. What is the mechanism by which they are turned into action and what is the budgeting process involved? There will be a fair bit of capital required for these projects.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Again, I thank the Deputy for his question on concerns that have been raised in relation to the publication of the risk assessment, which is both comprehensive and evidence based framework that identifies, ranks and prioritises the climate risks, as the Deputy has outlined. What is essential here is that it draws on international best practices from the UK, New Zealand and the EU. It highlights the complex risks, including those we saw during Storm Éowyn, which impact across the energy system and forestry. Through the framework and the 13 different adaptation plans that will be finalised this year, we will have plans that can deliver real world actions while also putting strategies in place to protect communities, infrastructure and the economy. They will be led out through various Departments and through local authority-led actions.

Naoise Ó Muirí (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Just for my own information, how does it work in terms of capital funding? Does that come through the NDP? If the Minister of State does not have the answer now, perhaps he could come back to me later. I am interested in understanding how that funding channel works.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for his question and I can certainly respond later in relation to that. The focus now is on delivering the 15 sectoral adaptation plans. That is really important. As I said earlier, we need to take significant steps to future proof Ireland's key infrastructure around electricity and gas. We will put these plans out for consultation. That is really important. What we want to do is ensure that we plan ahead, invest wisely and protect our key infrastructure to ensure future adaptation measures are introduced as we deal with future serious and extreme weather events.