Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Climate Action Plan 2023 sets out how Ireland will respond to the climate crisis, by placing the delivery of climate solutions at the heart of the development of our society. This Plan includes actions to tackle the mitigation and adaptation challenges posed by climate change.

The Department of the Taoiseach prepares quarterly progress reports on the delivery of measures committed to under the Climate Action Plan. These are published online for full transparency on climate action implementation. The progress reports provide a detailed breakdown of completed and delayed actions each quarter.

The latest progress report for the Climate Action Plan was published on 14 November and placed the Department’s website. It reports on actions that were due to be completed in Q3 2023.

There have now been three progress reports produced under Climate Action Plan 2023. A delivery rate of 75% was reported for Q1 2023, a delivery rate of 63% was reported for Q2 2023 and a delivery rate of 29% was reported for Q3 2023. Combined, this gives an overall implementation rate of 67% on the Climate Action Plan 2023 to date.

Attention is drawn to ‘high impact’ measures across all Progress Reports, highlighting those actions with more significant emissions reduction or adaptation potential.

The latest Progress Report details progress made on the 42 climate actions due for delivery in Q3 2023.

All delayed measures listed in the Q3 Progress Report will be carried forward and reported on in Q4. A considerable number of delayed actions this quarter report minor delays and are expected to complete shortly.

Some high impact measures completed in Q3 and highlighted in the progress report include:

·Delivery of the Onshore RESS Auction;

·Establishment of the new Maritime Area Regulatory Authority;

·The Launch of the Forestry Programme; and

·Introduction of a National Fertiliser Database.The Fourth Progress Report on the Climate Action Plan 2023 is currently being compiled.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Climate Action Delivery Board is jointly chaired by the Secretaries General of the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications.

Membership of the Delivery Board consists of Secretaries General from those Government Departments who have the main responsibilities for climate action delivery. Meetings are also attended by the Chiefs of Staff of the three Government parties.

A full list of the members of the Delivery Board and its terms of reference are available on the Department of the Taoiseach website.

The Climate Action Delivery Board’s original remit focused on overseeing the implementation of the last Government’s Climate Action Plan 2019.

In November 2021, the Delivery Board updated its terms of reference to provide for changes including the addition of a requirement for the Delivery Board to monitor the implementation of Carbon Budgets and Sectoral Emissions Ceilings which are now in place.

The Delivery Board met on the following occasions; 26 November 2021, 28 January 2022, 08 April 2022, 22 July 2022, 30 November 2022, 15 February 2023, 23 June 2023, and 26 October 2023. The Delivery Board did not meet in 2020, however, climate-related matters were brought forward through a number of alternative structures in 2020, including the Senior Officials Group on the Environment and Climate Change and the Cabinet Committee on the Environment and Climate, where members of the Delivery Board attend with Government Ministers

The Delivery Board is scheduled to meet again in December, and it is envisioned that it will continue to meet on a quarterly basis going forward.

The Climate Action Plan 2023 has given the Delivery Board an additional role of providing recommendations to the Cabinet Committee on the Environment and Climate Change on measures required to overcome any barriers or impediments to the implementation of climate policies.