Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 January 2022
90. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his Department is involved in carbon offset programmes for airline travel journeys undertaken; if so, the details of the programme; the amount spent on the programme in 2021; the budget for 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3756/22]
View answerIn January 2020, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform introduced mandatory new procedures for all Departments for offsetting the emissions associated with official airline travel.
In line with these procedure the Department records the carbon emissions associated with all official air travel, values these emissions based on the prevailing rates of Ireland’s domestic Carbon Tax in the relevant year and pays an amount equivalent to the travel emissions impact into the Climate Action Fund.
Payment for flights taken in 2020 was made in February 2021 and was calculated at the rate of €26 per tonne of carbon generated by these flights. The Department’s payment amounted to €17,833.
Data for flights taken in 2021 is currently being collated and payment will be due end February 2022.
