Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)
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Question 1553: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the amount by which Ireland will exceed the EU target on greenhouse gas emissions in 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29796/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Pursuant to Council Decision 2002/358/EC, Ireland is required to limit its emissions to 13% above 1990 levels during the period for assessing compliance with the Kyoto Protocol, 2008-2012. The Government is committed to meeting this requirement. The most recent projections of greenhouse gas emissions for the 2008-2012 period, which include the expected effects of all measures in place by March 2006, show that Ireland at present faces an average annual distance to its Kyoto Protocol target of approximately 7 million tonnes over the 2008-2012 period, a reduction of approximately 2 million tonnes per annum on previous projections.

There are three strands to the Government's approach to achieving the further reductions needed to bridge the remaining distance to target: emissions reductions, or purchase of carbon allowances, by installations participating in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme; use of the Kyoto Protocol flexible mechanisms by the Government to purchase credits for carbon reductions elsewhere in the world; and measures to reduce emissions throughout the economy, in addition to those set out in the National Climate Change Strategy and those introduced subsequently.

A report on the implementation of the National Climate Change Strategy, Ireland's Pathway to Kyoto Compliance, was published in July 2006 and sets out options for further measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The report is available in the Oireachtas Library.