Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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1630. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the plans she has developed within her Department to meet the terms of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act of 2015. [41216/16]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (DJEI) is actively engaged on climate change policy as it pertains to the enterprise sector. This work can be split into two main areas: technical assistance and advice on the administration and proposed revisions to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), and cross-Departmental work on the non-ETS climate change mitigation policies that will assist in achieving Ireland’s climate change targets for 2020 and the forthcoming EU Effort Sharing Regulation governing 2030 emissions targets.

On EU ETS, my Department has been involved in intensive discussions at EU Council, Parliament and Commission in recent months. These discussions relate to Phase IV of the EU ETS, due to commence in 2021. The proposed revisions to EU ETS from 2021 will require a substantial increase in ambition on the part of participating companies, as well as likely increased compliance costs. DJEI has been assessing the various technical proposals for the revised EU ETS, their impact on the competitiveness position of the sectors engaged in ETS in Ireland, and advising on Ireland’s negotiating stance for the various proposed amendments to the Scheme. Of particular interest to DJEI is ensuring that vulnerable sectors continue to receive support through the carbon leakage provisions of EU ETS to ameliorate adverse competitiveness impacts.

DJEI has been involved in the development of Ireland’s forthcoming National Mitigation Plan which is soon to be open for public consultation and will itemise all relevant cross-sectoral policies, measures and programmes to achieve Ireland’s EU emissions targets and those referred to in the Climate Action & Low Carbon Development Bill (2015). This will include measures aimed at improving energy efficiency in industry, the commercial sector and wider enterprise. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland plays a key role in assisting businesses in Ireland to improve their energy efficiency and to decarbonise their production processes towards a more sustainable trajectory. This important work reaps benefits in terms of cost savings and competitiveness as well as the associated environmental benefits which are key to Ireland’s national mitigation effort to 2020 and 2030.

In addition to mitigation, DJEI has also contributed in an advisory capacity to Ireland’s National Adaptation Framework which is due for publication in early 2017. Similar to the National Mitigation Plan, the National Adaptation Framework will provide a comprehensive inventory of all measures and programmes, planned and in-train, aimed at adapting to climate change in Ireland in the coming decades. This Plan will lay out the critical infrastructure required by the Irish enterprise sector, as well as wider society, to adapt to the threats posed by our changing climate.