John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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1052. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the action he plans to take to address the issue of climate change in view of the scale and engagement of school children in a national climate change protest; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14124/19]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I am currently preparing an All of Government Climate Plan which will set out the actions which must be taken to make Ireland a leader in responding to climate change. I am working with colleagues across Government to develop new initiatives across electricity, transport and heat, as well as a range of other sectors.

The All of Government 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 also be informed by successful approaches in other countries, where such approaches could be adapted for implementation in Ireland.

The Plan will build on the previous actions and framework put in place by both the National Mitigation Plan and the National Development Plan (NDP), and is to be completed by April.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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1054. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if the draft of the integrated national energy and climate plan will be updated prior to the EU end of year deadline to reflect cross-party recommendations and commitments from the report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action and include new actions from his forthcoming all-of-Government climate plan. [14177/19]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The preparation of a consolidated National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) is a requirement under the Governance Regulation of the Energy Union and Climate Action which brings together for the first time energy and climate planning and reporting requirements into a single national reporting framework.

Member States were given a template for the Plan as part of the Regulation and had to submit a first draft of the plan to the Commission by 31 December 2018 with the final plan to be submitted by 31 December this year.

As the deputy is aware projections indicate that Ireland will be far off target for emissions in 2020. The government is determined to address this and have asked me to draw up a whole of government action plan with the aim of getting back on track.

This plan will build upon the measures set out in the National Development Plan published by Government in March 2018.

I will also take into account the important work of;

- The Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action and its deliberations on the report of the Citizens’ Assembly entitled ‘How the State can make Ireland a Leader in tackling Climate Change’;

- Input from the Climate Change Advisory Council;

- Input from the public consultation on the initial draft National Energy and Climate Plan;

- Updated analytical input from Government Departments, ESRI, CSO, SEAI, EPA, Teagasc and other Government bodies

It is intended that new commitments and initiatives will be included in the All of Government Climate Action Plan which will in turn inform the finalisation of the NECP during the course of 2019.