Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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51. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when the national mitigation plan will be discussed in Dáil Éireann; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41906/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The publication of Ireland’s first statutory National Mitigation Plan in July 2017 was an important initial step to enable the transition to a low carbon economy and society. The governance and reporting arrangements that underpin the National Mitigation Plan will be critical to successfully delivering on the full range of over 70  measures and 106 related actions in the Plan. Under section 14 of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment is required to present an Annual Transition Statement (ATS) to each House of the Oireachtas by 10 December each year.

The Annual Transition Statement for 2017 will have two main elements. The "Annual National Transition Statement" itself will set out an overview of both mitigation and adaptation policy measures adopted; a record of emissions of greenhouse gases set out in the most recent national greenhouse gas emissions inventory and a projection of future greenhouse gas emissions; and a report on compliance by the State with any existing or future obligations under EU law or international agreements referred to in Section 2 of the Act. 

In addition, each sectoral Minister designated under the 2015 Act for the purposes of the National Mitigation Plan (Communications, Climate Action and Environment; Housing, Planning and Local Government; Transport, Tourism and Sport; Agriculture, Food and the Marine) is required to include an "Annual Sectoral Mitigation Transition Statement." Each Sectoral Mitigation Transition Statement must set out a record of the sectoral mitigation measures adopted by the Minister of the Government presenting the annual sectoral mitigation transition statement concerned, and an assessment of the effectiveness of the sectoral mitigation measures in the achievement of their purpose.  

Starting in 2018, it is my intention to produce an annual progress report on the implementation of the National Mitigation Plan. This annual progress report will incorporate the key provisions of the Annual Transition Statement and will also record progress in relation to each of the actions set out in the National Mitigation Plan. In order to align the Annual Transition Statement requirements under the 2015 legislation with the National Mitigation Plan annual progress report, I propose to incorporate these into a single document from 2018 onwards. This annual reporting process will facilitate debate on the implementation of the National Mitigation Plan in both Houses of the Oireachtas in each subsequent year.