Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 requires that an annual transition statement be presented to the Houses of the Oireachtas. The 2017 statement is the second such statement under the Act. In addition to the oral report, I am arranging for a written statement to be laid before the Houses in advance of the statutory deadline of 10 December. The Act prescribes that the annual transition statement should include an overview of the mitigation and adaptation policy measures adopted by the Government, details on emission inventories and projections, and a report on compliance with Ireland's obligations under EU law and relevant international agreements. I will address these elements during my statement.

As reported by the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, on Monday, Ireland's emissions increased by 3.5% between 2015 and 2016. This is disappointing and highlights the urgent need to decouple economic growth from carbon emissions and energy demand. Our economy remains the strongest performer in the EU, with GDP increasing by 5.2% in 2016, and we are once again approaching full employment, all of which puts pressure on emissions, especially in terms of transport, energy use and construction. The EPA expects Ireland's emissions to continue to increase until at least the end of the decade, which makes it even more imperative that Ireland take further steps to arrest this trend.

The Government's framework for taking action to reduce our emissions is the national mitigation plan, which sets out more than 70 individual measures to reduce emissions. Progress on the implementation of these measures is reported in the annual transition statement. The plan also provides the framework for further work on the medium to long-term measures to make the necessary deeper emission reductions in future decades. The mitigation plan is not a static document and must be formally reviewed once every five years.