Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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591. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he has instigated, or will instigate, an independent audit regarding the amount of carbon emissions to be mitigated by the Climate Action Plan 2019 to tackle climate breakdown; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26433/19]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Government's Climate Action Plan, published on 17 June, sets out the expected emissions abatement contribution from existing commitments under Project Ireland 2040 and the expected contribution of Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) measures to meeting Ireland's EU Effort Sharing Regulation targets for 2021-2030 in the non-ETS sectors of the economy. The Plan includes the necessary targets and measures, supported by detailed actions and roadmaps, to close the remaining gap of 58.4 MtCO2eq in the non-ETS sector. The relevant table is reproduced below.

As a basis for policy planning we have sought to design a trajectory to 2030 which would not require any Exchequer purchase of credits nor the sacrifice of revenue due to the Exchequer from credits sold in ETS. We have planned cautiously by assuming a low price trajectory for oil.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prepares inventories of past, and projections of future, greenhouse gas emissions for Ireland on an annual basis. Inventories and projections are compiled by the EPA according to international standards to meet EU and UN reporting obligations and to inform national policy development.

The most recent projections report, Ireland’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Projections 2018-2040,published earlier this month, provides an updated assessment of Ireland’s total projected greenhouse gas emissions out to 2040, and is available on the website of the EPA at www.epa.ie/pubs/reports/air/airemissions/ghgprojections2018-2040/. As these projections were prepared before the publication of the Climate Action Plan, they do not yet take into account the targets and measures included in the Plan. It is anticipated that updated emissions projections, to be prepared later in 2019 to inform the preparation of Ireland’s final National Energy and Climate Plan, will include the additional impact of the Climate Action Plan.