Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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The extent of the challenge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in line with our EU and international commitments, is well understood by Government, as reflected in the National Policy Position on Climate Action and Low-Carbon Development, published in April 2014, and in the Climate Action and Low-Carbon Development Bill 2015, expected to be enacted very shortly. The National Policy Position provides a high-level policy direction for the adoption and implementation by Government of plans to enable the State to move to a low-carbon economy by 2050. Proposed statutory authority for the plans is set out in the Climate Action and Low-Carbon Development Bill 2015. In anticipation of enactment of the planned legislation, work is already underway on developing a low carbon plan, the National Mitigation Plan, the primary objective of which will be to track implementation of measures already underway and identify additional measures in the longer term to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and progress the overall national low carbon transition agenda to 2050. The first iteration of the National Mitigation Plan will place particular focus on putting the necessary measures in place to address the challenge to 2020 but also in terms of planning ahead to ensure that appropriate policies and measures will be in place beyond that. In this context, key sectors in the low carbon transition process (electricity, transport, built environment and agriculture) are currently developing sectorial mitigation measures in tandem with Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Appropriate Assessment (AA) processes during which measures will be further developed and prioritised.

Development of the National Mitigation Plan is being guided by a long-term vision of low carbon transition, as set out in the National Policy Position based on:

- an aggregate reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) 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.

The ultimate objective of successive National Mitigation Plans is to incrementally achieve this vision by 2050. In that context, the National Mitigation Plan now being developed will have regard to Ireland’s obligations under the current 2009 Effort Sharing Decision and any likely future EU and international obligations that may arise, including new targets to be agreed under the 2030 climate and energy package.

I have no plans at this time to introduce sectorial targets. As noted above, the National Policy Position sets out the ambition level for the electricity generation, built environment and transport sectors in aggregate rather than as individual sectorial objectives. This is to ensure that it can be achieved at minimum cost. The proposed iterative process to pursue and achieve this aggregate ambition level will allow Departments and Government collectively to establish the most cost-efficient options at a point in time. Inevitably, the cost of some technologies will reduce over time and the least-cost transition advice and trajectory will evolve accordingly.