Ann Graves (Dublin Fingal East, Sinn Fein)
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257. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government in view of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change highlighting the urgency of reducing carbon emissions, accelerating the transition to renewable energy, and strengthening environmental policies, in further noting that Ireland has made progress with the Climate Action Plan, more ambitious measures are needed to meet our legally binding targets under the Climate Act 2021 and the EU Green Deal, the actions the Government has taken support policies that cut carbon emissions, increase funding for renewable energy research and advocate for stricter environmental regulations. [62033/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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This Government is committed to delivering on Ireland’s responsibility to address the climate crisis.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) most recent emissions reporting confirms that Ireland has recorded overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions for a third consecutive year, with a decrease of 6.8% in 2023 followed by a further 2% reduction in 2024. However, EPA projections show that more progress must be made.

It is clear that to meet our ambitious targets we need to further accelerate emissions reductions. We have established a number of cross-departmental taskforces which are supporting the delivery of measures in key sectors across the economy.

Our strengthened climate governance and delivery framework will help build on the momentum we have achieved in delivering climate solutions, for example:

• Electricity generation from renewables has increased fivefold since 2005.
• Onshore Wind energy provided 48% of Ireland’s power last February and last January Ireland hit the important milestone of hitting 5GW of installed onshore wind capacity.
• The 2025 ZEVI target for electrical vehicle sales of 195,000 was surpassed in October.