Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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209. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide a timeline for the development of his Department's specific climate change targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49573/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, my role is to ensure that the funds allocated to addressing climate change are well-managed, well-targeted and sustainable. My Department does not have specific climate change targets save for the objective  of improving its energy efficiency by 33% by 2020.    

A sustained whole of Government approach will be required to enable Ireland’s transition to a low carbon, climate resilient and environmentally sustainable economy by 2050. I am, together with my Department, committed to playing our part in this transition.

For example, earlier this month my Department published significant reforms to the Public Spending Code, which will, when adopted, require all Government investment projects to price future greenhouse gas emissions at the estimated cost that Irish society will have to bear in reaching our climate targets in their appraisal.

As I announced on Budget Day, Ireland has also joined the OECD Paris Collaborative on Green Budgeting. My objective in joining this initiative is to integrate environmental and climate outcome based reporting into our annual budgetary processes. This will be an iterative process but Ireland's participation in the Paris collaborative will lead to more transparency on the level and effectiveness of Ireland's climate expenditure.

The Irish Government Economic Evaluation Service (IGEES) was created to enhance the role of economics and value for money analysis in public policy making. IGEES has already conducted reviews of areas of climate related expenditure and will continue to systematically analyse the performance of programmes to gather evidence to support better informed decisions.

In addition to funding made available to Departments for tacking climate change through the annual budgetary/estimates process, the National Development Plan/Project Ireland 2040 also provides significant increased levels of funding for climate action related measures. Project Ireland 2040 commits a record level of investment for climate change initiatives over the next decade, with €21.8bn specifically allocated for Transition to a Low Carbon and Climate Resilient society (National Strategic Outcome 8). 

In addition, a number of the other National Strategic Outcomes in the NDP are also directly relevant to delivering on our climate action goals - €14.5 billion is allocated to encouraging compact smart growth and a further €8.6 billion is allocated for investment in environmentally sustainable public transport while €8.8 billion is allocated for the sustainable management of water and other environmental resources.  The NDP also established a €500m Climate Action Fund which will leverage investment by public and private bodies in climate action measures. The results from the first round of applications to this fund will be announced shortly.