Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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28. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the measures he proposes to take to ensure adherence to international agreements in respect of carbon reduction while at the same time ensuring the agrifood sector is not negatively impacted; the extent to which he expects carbon-free electricity generation to develop with a view to meeting targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32056/16]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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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 the Government, as reflected in the 2014 National Policy Position on Climate Action and Low Carbon Development and underpinned by the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015.  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.  Statutory authority for the plans is set out in the Act.

In accordance with Section 4 of the Act, I intend to make a draft National Mitigation Plan available for public consultation by the end of the year followed by submission of a final plan to Government for approval by June 2017. The preparation of the Plan is statutorily designed to be a whole-of-Government approach to tackling greenhouse gas emissions.  In particular, each Minister with responsibility for the largest emitting sectors namely, agriculture, transport, electricity and the built environment is required by Government to develop sectoral mitigation measures for inclusion in the Plan. 

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 on Climate Action 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 first iteration of the NMP will focus on tracking implementation of measures already underway, putting in place the necessary measures to address the challenge to 2020 and also to ensure that appropriate policies and measures are in place beyond that. Work on this task is being co-ordinated by the National Mitigation Plan Steering Group, chaired by my Department, and is well underway by all Departments concerned.  Departments with responsibility for the four largest emitting sectors are currently developing sectoral mitigation measures in tandem with Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Appropriate Assessment (AA) processes and financial analysis during which measures will be further developed and prioritised.

The ultimate objective of successive five-yearly National Mitigation Plans is to incrementally achieve this low-carbon transition vision by 2050. In that context, the National Mitigation Plan  will have regard to Ireland's obligations under the current 2009 Effort Sharing Decision, the Paris Agreement and any likely future EU and international obligations that may arise, including new national targets to be agreed under the 2030 Climate and Energy Package.

The Energy White Paper, Ireland's Transition to a Low Carbon Energy Future 2015-2030, sets out a vision and a framework to guide Irish energy policy and the actions that Government intends to take in the energy sector from now up to 2030, aimed at transforming Ireland's fossil-fuel based energy sector into a clean, low carbon system by 2050. 

The 2009 EU Renewable Energy Directive sets Ireland a legally binding target of meeting 16% of our energy requirements from renewable sources by 2020.  A range of support measures designed to meet our binding target has been adopted and although good progress has been made to date, meeting the 16% target remains challenging. Work is ongoing in my Department to examine the design and cost of introducing a new Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) to encourage the development of Ireland's abundant and indigenous renewable energy resources.