Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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183. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to report on Ireland’s commitment to the “loss and damage” mechanism agreed at COP30; and the amount of additional funding or support which Ireland will provide in the next five years. [62948/25]

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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194. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will outline Ireland's current and planned financial contributions to the loss and damage fund; the timeline for disbursement of such funds; the mechanisms in place to ensure that Ireland's contributions are additional to existing official development assistance commitments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63146/25]

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 183 and 194 together.

At COP28 in Dubai in 2023, final agreement was reached on the establishment of a new Loss and Damage Fund to support developing countries to respond to the impacts of climate change. Ireland played a key role in the design, scope and structure of the new Fund. The Government pledged a €25 million contribution to the Fund, demonstrating our support for its implementation. This pledge has been fully paid with the provision of €10 million in November 2024 and €15 million in June 2025. Ireland’s contribution to the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage is the second highest globally, on a per capita basis.

Following the establishment of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage, Ireland was nominated to the Board and currently shares a seat with the European Commission. Ireland’s key priority on the Board is to ensure that the fund is operational and that support reaches the most vulnerable countries affected by climate change. At COP 30, which I have just attended in Belem, the Irish delegation attended the launch of the start-up phase of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage, the ‘Barbados Implementation Modalities’. We are are actively following the Loss and Damage negotiations. The first payments to countries from the Fund are anticipated in 2026. The replenishment process of the Fund is expected to commence in 2027, at which point we will consider further funding.

Our funding for Loss and Damage aligns with the Government's broader climate finance commitments in recent years to scaling up our international climate finance. Ireland’s International Climate Finance Roadmap sets out how we will deliver on the target of providing at least €225 million annually in climate finance by 2025. This target constitutes a more than doubling of Ireland's climate finance since it was made by the Taoiseach at COP 26 (2021). We are on track to meet this target this year, due to increases in climate finance provided in Budgets in recent years.