Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 124: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will detail what constitutes the carbon sinks referred to in the budget carbon emissions table as sinks eligible for accounting under Kyoto protocol rules which represents net afforestation since 1990 and accounting for almost half of the deductions from gross carbon emissions here to enable Ireland to meet Kyoto carbon emission reduction targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35149/07]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The provision for carbon sinks in the carbon budget table refers to sequestration, or removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, from forests that are eligible for accounting under the Kyoto Protocol. The rules of the Kyoto Protocol allow Parties to include sequestration from net afforestation since 1990, i.e. sequestration from the planting of new forest since 1990, less the effects of deforestation over the same period.

Current estimates indicate that the average annual effect of sinks eligible for accounting under the Kyoto Protocol during the 2008-12 period will be 2.074 million tonnes. This represents a significant increase on the sinks estimate for 2006 due to growth of young forests planted in recent years. The 2008-12 estimate for sinks represents approximately 15% of total emissions savings of 13.6 million tonnes resulting from measures set out in the National Climate Change Strategy.