Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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508. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will explain the way the transition to a low-carbon economy by 2050 will be achieved without specific targets as outlined in the heads of the Climate Action and Low-Carbon Development Bill; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19607/14]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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On 23 April 2014, I released both the General Scheme of the Climate Action and Low-Carbon Development Bill and a National Policy Position on Climate Action and Low-Carbon Development. In looking at the national transition agenda, both documents must be considered together .

The National Policy Position establishe s the fundamental national objective to achieve transition to a competitive, low-carbon, climate-resilient and environmentally sustainable economy by 2050. It sets out the a) context for that objective, b) process through which i t will be progressed, c) level of ambition which will guide Ireland’s transition process, and d) key issues for considera tion in the on-going evolution of national policy .

The wider context set out in the National Policy Position reaffirms Ireland’s commitment to compliance with existing and future obligations of the S tate under EU and international law. As set out in Head 3 of the General Scheme, this commitment will be underpinned in p rimary legislation. Ireland has a challenging greenhouse gas emission reduction target for 2020 which is binding under EU law , and a more stringent target is anticipated at the conclusion of the ongoing negotiations on the 2030 EU policy framework for climate and energy.

As set out in the National Policy Position, t he low-carbon transition process to 2050 will be guided by a long-term vision of low-carbon transition based on an aggregate reduction in carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions of at least 80% (compared to 1990 levels) by 2050 across the electricity generation, built environment and transport sectors; and in parallel, an approach to carbon neutrality in the agriculture and land-use sector, including forestry, which does not compromise capacity for sustainable food production.

I believe that the National Policy Position reflect s the point at which the overall balance of considerations lies at this time. Th e se considerations will, of course, change as the transition agenda progresses, and that is why national policy will be kept under review and will evolve on an iterative basis.