Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators for their sincere comments. One Senator asked about the staffing in the National Parks and Wildlife Service. The Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, has managed to double the staffing numbers in the budget for it.

Senator Moynihan asked about building emissions. We have an ambitious national development plan. Naturally, there will be emissions as a result of a large quantity of construction and a large quantity of retrofit activity. There is a great deal of work going into making sure the embodied emissions in that construction are as low as possible while at the same time trying to build housing as fast as possible.

There were questions about how the monitoring of the carbon budgets will happen. There are quarterly monitoring reports under the climate action plan and those are overseen by the Department of the Taoiseach.

On the questions about the level of ambition and whether we are going to meet our obligations under international agreements, the carbon budgets have been prepared with the aim of complying with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC, and the Paris Agreement. Regarding the public consultation, which was completed in February, the results were collated and edited and I have asked the civil servants to have them published as soon as possible. The results of that consultation were used to inform the Minister.

In addition, I thank all the members of the committee, including those present. I read the committee's report and I have the recommendations with me here. I note the first recommendation, in particular, which is that the carbon budgets as proposed by the Climate Change Advisory Council be adopted by the Houses.

I stress the enormous importance of passing the motion to approve the proposed carbon budgets to enable us to meet our ambitious national climate objective and our international emissions obligations. The science is clear and definitive on the need for urgent action. The negative effects of climate change are already being experienced globally, and they will continue to increase exponentially in magnitude and volatility along with global temperatures. The joint committee report on the proposed carbon budgets recommended that the carbon budgets proposed by the Climate Change Advisory Council be adopted by the Houses. Following an extensive review and consultation process, the proposed carbon budgets have now received Cabinet approval. The carbon budgets will support and underline the ambitious commitments made in the Climate Action Plan 2021 and will provide a stable foundation on which we can build the future iterations of the plan in 2022 and in each year up to 2030.

The proposed carbon budget programme provides Ireland with a strong and deliverable framework for meeting our national climate objectives and our international obligations to climate action and emissions reduction. Moreover, the programme will allow for the development and implementation of the sectoral emissions ceilings. The process to prepare and implement these ceilings will include consultation with the relevant Ministers and technical input from the climate action modelling group, as well as additional analytical support from other technical support providers. These ceilings will be within the parameters set out in the carbon budgets and they will be reflected in the next climate action plan. The budgets and sectoral ceilings will replace the indicative ranges for sectoral emissions reductions that are currently in place for the 2021 version of the plan. Furthermore, the next version of the plan will be subject to its own review and consultation process, including a public consultation, and the results of that will be published.

As I mentioned earlier, a considerable level of co-operation and co-ordination will be required to ensure we can achieve these budgets, but I believe we have the capacity, commitment and determination to do this. As we transition away from fossil fuels and progressively decarbonise, we must ensure the way we decarbonise captures this unique opportunity to improve the quality of life for all. It is important to note also that the transition to a carbon-neutral economy will provide massive opportunities to foster innovation, to create new jobs and to grow businesses in areas such offshore wind, cutting-edge sustainable agriculture and low-carbon construction. While we all must act together towards our climate objective, I realise the costs of climate action will be more acutely felt by some than by others. The Government is committed to protecting those who are most vulnerable and to ensuring a just transition to a low-carbon economy.

I stress that the carbon budget programme is an important milestone in our efforts to tackle climate change. It represents a significant step on the trajectory towards the transition to a climate-resilient, biodiversity-rich, environmentally sustainable and climate-neutral economy by 2050. I again thank Senators on all sides of the House for their contributions.