Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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84. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the economic analysis which underpins the climate targets he has set out. [21897/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I understand the Deputy's Question refers to analysis of Ireland's proposed emission reduction targets for the period 2021-2030 under the draft Effort Sharing Regulation proposal published by the European Commission in July 2016.

This proposal seeks to give effect to the European Union's commitment, under the Paris Agreement, to a reduction of at least 40% in EU-wide emissions by 2030 compared with 1990 levels, which will be met through reductions of 43% in the Emissions Trading System (ETS) and 30% in the non-ETS sector compared with 2005 levels.

The Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) proposal, which applies specifically to emissions reductions in sectors of the economy outside of the EU ETS, proposes targets for each Member State based on GDP per capita, adjusted to reflect the cost-effectiveness of making emissions reductions within each Member State. In the case of Ireland a target of 39% has been proposed, which has been adjusted downwards to 30% to reflect a cost-effectiveness criterion. The proposal also recognises the mitigation potential of land use, land-use change and forestry, and contains a one-off flexibility between the ETS and the non-ETS, to ensure that all Member States are collectively enabled to reduce their emissions as cost effectively as possible, while ensuring progress towards the overall EU 2030 target can be maintained on a robust basis.  Technical and economic analysis is ongoing on a cross-Departmental basis to understand the implications of  the ESR proposal for Ireland. The proposal continues to be negotiated at EU level and Ireland's analysis of the impacts of the proposal will continue to evolve during this process. The final outcome of these negotiations will determine Ireland’s contribution to the EU's commitments for 2030 under the Paris Agreement.