Vol. 434 No. 9
87 Mr. Clohessy asked the Minister for the Environment if, in view of a recent report that the Government has expressed support for an energy tax, he will give details of the CO2 emission targets which could be achieved with the support of an energy tax as proposed; and if he will make a commitment to achieving stabilisation at 1990 levels by the year 2000.
94 Mr. Cox asked the Minister for the Environment if, in view of a recent report that the Government has expressed support for an energy tax, he will give the CO2 emission targets that could be achieved with the support of an energy tax as proposed; and if he will make a commitment to achieve stabilisation at 1990 levels by the year 2000.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 87 and 94 together.
The basis for the EC Commissioner's carbon/energy tax proposal is that, together with other measures, it should help to achieve stabilisation of CO2 emissions at overall Community level by the year 2000 relative to 1990. Community policy also, however, recognises that member states, like Ireland, whose development is imcomplete should not be required to achieve this stabilisation nationally but should be allowed targets and strategies which can accommodate growth.
Ireland's national climate change strategy, published in June 1993, estimated that the growth in Irish CO2 emissions to the year 2000 will be contained to 20 per cent, or to 11 per cent taking account of increased CO2 absorption arising from our accelerated afforestation programme. These increases do not include provision for the effects of an energy tax. Relevant, but not directly applicable, research carried out by ESRI in 1991 estimated that an energy tax could reduce energy demand by 3-4 per cent with a similar reduction in CO2 emissions. These estimates do not however reflect the precise proposal now evolving at EC level.
