Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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481. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the estimated cost of buying sufficient credits to prevent Ireland from breaching its EU climate obligations on the basis of the most likely emission profiles for each year until 2030; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9230/19]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The last available projections of greenhouse gas emissions, published by the EPA in May 2018, indicate that Ireland will exceed its cumulative annual greenhouse gas emissions ceilings for the 2021 to 2030 period under the EU Effort Sharing Regulation, by between 47 and 52 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent, assuming full utilisation of the ETS to non-ETS transfer and Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry mitigation options.

The Deputy will be aware that I am leading on the development of an All of Government Plan, which will set out the actions which must be taken to make Ireland a leader in responding to climate change. I also intend that the Plan will articulate the proposed policies and measures to enable Ireland meet its targets under the EU Effort Sharing Regulation, thereby avoiding any requirement for Ireland to purchase credits for compliance purposes.

The Plan will have a strong focus on implementation, including actions with specific timelines and steps needed to achieve each action, assigning clear lines of responsibility for delivery. It will be updated on a rolling annual basis and will also be informed by successful approaches in other countries, where such approaches can be adapted for implementation in Ireland.