Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)
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Question 635: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if, in view of the potential financial implications of a climate change agreement arising from talks in Montreal, the consultations his Department has had with regard to Ireland's position at the summit in Montreal; the content of those consultations; the agreements arising from those consultations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5430/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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There were three substantial outcomes to the UN climate change conference, which took place last December in Montreal. The conference, as the first meeting of parties to the Kyoto Protocol, formally adopted both the 2001 Marrakech Accords, which sets out the detailed rules for implementation of the protocol, and a compliance regime to ensure parties meet their commitments under the protocol. Second, there was agreement to begin consideration of post-2012 commitments for industrialised country parties that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol, and this process is expected to commence in May of this year. Finally, there was agreement to discussions among all countries, including those who do not have a quantified emission reduction or limitation targets under the Kyoto Protocol and those that are not party to the protocol, on longer-term co-operative action to address climate change. A dialogue will take place under the aegis of the convention to explore the broad range of actions needed to respond to the climate change challenge. This dialogue will also commence in May.

It is too early to identify potential financial implications arising from the Montreal conference. Negotiations on a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol are likely to take a number of years and, while the Government intends actively to participate in international negotiations in support of the development of a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol, any implications of proposals that emerge from these negotiations will need to be carefully assessed. My Department did not engage in any specific consultations on preparations for the Montreal conference.

Ireland, like its fellow EU member states, is committed to meeting its greenhouse gas emission target for the period 2008-12. However, it must also be recognised that the Kyoto Protocol is only a first step and Ireland's position at summit in Montreal was fully supportive of the EU position on the need for further action at a global level post-2012. This position has been repeatedly underlined, inter alia, in conclusions of various meetings of the Council of Environment Ministers and of the European Council. As a matter of course, I brief the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government in advance of all meetings of the Council of Environment Ministers, including in advance of the meeting of 17 October 2005 at which conclusions for the Montreal conference were agreed.