Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 328: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the measures he has put in place to calculate the levels of environmental emission that have been generated here in order to ascertain the extent to which Ireland complies with its obligations under the Kyoto agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12438/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for the preparation of annual greenhouse gas inventories in accordance with guidelines from the intergovernmental panel on climate change. The year 2003 is the latest for which inventory data is currently available. The agency compiles much of the information on the basis of national activities data, such as energy balances and agriculture statistics, obtained from relevant Departments and their agencies, and the Central Statistics Office.

Ireland's target under the Kyoto Protocol is to limit the level of emissions in the period 2008-2012 to 13% above 1990 levels. The latest figures issued by the agency show that emissions in 2003 were approximately 25% above 1990 levels, down from 29% in 2002 and 31% in 2001. Emissions in 2004 are being calculated by the agency.

A 2004 consultants' report commissioned by the Departments with primary responsibility for the development and implementation of national policy on climate change, concluded that greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by 9.2 million tonnes per year in the period 2008 to 2012 in order to comply with the Kyoto Protocol target. A copy of the report is posted on my Department's website, www.environ.ie. The national climate change strategy provides a comprehensive framework for reducing Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions in the most efficient and equitable manner, and for ensuring that Ireland meets its commitment under the Kyoto Protocol.