Neasa Hourigan
Question:1. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first progress report for the first quarter of 2023 of the climate action plan. [29296/23]
View answerWednesday, 21 June 2023
Questions (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
Mary Lou McDonald
Question:2. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first progress report for the first quarter of 2023 of the climate action plan. [29328/23]
View answer
Marc Ó Cathasaigh
Question:3. Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first progress report for the first quarter of 2023 of the climate action plan. [29515/23]
View answer
Gary Gannon
Question:4. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first progress report for the first quarter of 2023 of the climate action plan. [29337/23]
View answer
Richard Boyd Barrett
Question:5. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first progress report for the first quarter of 2023 of the climate action plan. [29543/23]
View answer
Bríd Smith
Question:6. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first progress report for the first quarter of 2023 of the climate action plan. [29546/23]
View answer
Paul Murphy
Question:7. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first progress report for the first quarter of 2023 of the climate action plan. [29549/23]
View answer
Mick Barry
Question:8. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first progress report for the first quarter of 2023 of the climate action plan. [29627/23]
View answer
Christopher O'Sullivan
Question:9. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first progress report for the first quarter of 2023 of the climate action plan. [29761/23]
View answerOral answers (18 contributions)
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 9, inclusive, together.
The Climate Action Plan 2023 sets out how Ireland will accelerate the action required to respond to the climate crisis, putting climate solutions at the core of Ireland's social and economic development. The plan includes actions across all sectors that will transform and improve life in Ireland. It will help us to break free from our reliance on imported fossil fuels and tap into our abundant resources of renewable energy. It will allow us to improve our buildings and homes to make them more energy efficient and much less expensive to heat. It will improve how we travel, how we work and how we use our land. The transformation on which we have embarked in all these sectors will present significant economic and social opportunities, with new sectors and jobs emerging all over the country.
The Department of the Taoiseach prepares quarterly progress reports on the implementation of the actions committed to under the annual updates of the climate action plan. The reports provide a detailed breakdown of completed and delayed actions each quarter. Once approved by Government, they are published. The latest progress report for the climate action plan was published on 4 May and refers to actions that were due to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2023. The report has been published on the Department of the Taoiseach's website.
The quarterly reports detail progress in each of the six high-impact sectors identified in the climate action plan. These are agriculture, transport, electricity, land use, buildings and industry. They also provide context for the actions in terms of emissions targets and trends, key performance indicators, and further detail on actions of particular significance. The completion rate for the first quarter stands at 75%, with 27 of 36 actions completed on schedule. All delayed measures from the first quarter will be carried forward and reported on in the second quarter.
High-impact measures completed in the first quarter include implementation of the agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, implementation of the energy efficiency obligation scheme, publication of phase 1 of the land use review; the launch of the public sector climate action strategy, and the introduction of a new tax incentive to encourage small-scale landlords to undertake retrofitting works while tenants remain in situ. The second progress report on the Climate Action Plan 2023 is being drafted at present.
I thank the Taoiseach for the progress report. There is renewed concern about meeting our climate targets and about our emissions, given recent reports. Something I have been chasing up is our progress on geothermal energy. Based on the reply to a previous parliamentary question, it seems that what we really need is completion of the policy statement. The Minister tells me the policy statement is meant to run from 2023 until 2027. We are in June 2023. In my constituency, and I imagine in that of the Taoiseach, a number of very large institutions are absolutely gagging to be involved in geothermal energy. Some experimental boreholes have been drilled. What they need to move forward is certainty. They need a policy that is complete and a geothermal map of Dublin to move ahead. We are looking at a situation where if they had this, not only could they be servicing their own needs and reducing emissions but very likely they could be offering free heat or power to the local community and domestic houses.
Land use and agri-environmental schemes will be very important and the Taoiseach mentioned ACRES. At European level some progress was made in the Council's approach to the nature restoration law. What approach will the Government take on this? Sinn Féin has set out our proposals on the need for funding, public participation and assurances on the voluntary nature of schemes to maintain the ambition. Will the Taoiseach outline what role he, as a Prime Minister or Taoiseach of the European People's Party, EPP, will play to ensure the nature restoration law is ambitious, supported, successful and delivered?
As the Taoiseach knows, climate change, among other things, results in extreme weather events. One impact and consequence that is becoming apparent in my area, and in other areas with swimming spots around Dublin Bay, is that when we get these torrential downpours the pumping stations that deal with foul water overflow. The good weather of the past week or so has meant thousands of people are swimming. Yesterday, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council had to issue a no-swim notice. This was not because it knows there is pollution but because it is not sure. As a result of the rainfall there are fears of overflows. This has to do with the lack of capacity at the Ringsend sewage treatment plant. For years we have been told it will be upgraded and expanded to address this problem but it has not been done. The consequence now is that even though we will not know until Saturday the test results of the water at Seapoint, Sandycove and other swimming spots, there will be no swimming until the weekend. This is because of the rain. This is a crazy situation and it needs to be addressed with proper investment in the Ringsend plant.
The context for this discussion is that report on the climate action plan and its progress. It is remarkable to hear a report from the Taoiseach that did not mention that the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, recently told us the first two carbon budgets will not be met. Not only will they not be met, they will not be met by a significant amount. The EPA predicts at best a 29% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. This is far short of the legally binding target of 51%. An Taisce has called this pretty hopeful and inventive accountancy. We need to acknowledge there is a disconnect between the Government, the measures that it is willing to take, the scale of the crisis and the scale of the failure to cut emissions that we are facing.
It is almost a case of denial. That was really shown up by the actions of the Taoiseach's party colleagues in the EU on the question of biodiversity loss and the habitats directive. As the evidence mounts, we can see the scale of this crisis, with marine heatwaves, record heatwaves, temperature records being broken and biodiversity loss on a massive scale, but we cannot see a business model or a political determination from the Government to deal with this. Instead, it is facilitating data corporations to build more and more through their private investments and to deny the biodiversity loss that we are facing. I would like the Taoiseach to address those urgent questions.
I have a simple question. Does the Government have any intention of meeting the 51% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030? Did it ever intend to do it? Was it just something to give to the Greens to say there was a target, before the Government then said to the data centres, big tech companies and big agribusiness not to worry because we do not actually intend to meet these targets? As Deputy Smith pointed out, the EPA has indicated we are miles off target. In the best case scenario, if the Government does the things it has promised to do, we are heading for a less than 30% reduction, rather than a 51% reduction. An Taisce has pointed out that it is even worse because of a basic maths issue and the carry-on effect of stuff not being done until now not being taken into account in the EPA's calculations. Professor John Sweeney said, "The reality of the current emissions trajectory toward the end of 2025 means a carbon budget overshoot to be removed from the 2026-30 budget [is] so significant it will be much more difficult for the next Government to stay within the legal requirement." He continued, ""This means that highly effective emergency course-correction measures must be immediately enacted by the present Government to limit the overshoot." What measures does the Government have in mind?
The European state of the climate report states that 16,365 people died in Europe last year as a result of meteorological, hydrological and climate-related hazards and that a further 156,000 people were adversely affected in a direct way by these hazards. Meanwhile, every EU country is expected to submit a draft energy plan by 30 June, which is in nine days. We are told Ireland will miss the deadline. It is not the first deadline the Government has missed on these issues. It hardly inspires confidence that the environment is a serious priority for the Government. The EPA now tells us that this State is set to miss its target of a 51% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 by a country mile. This is a very poor performance indeed. In the context of what this means for people's lives and well-being, would the Taoiseach not say the Government is falling disgracefully short of the targets it has set for itself?
In order to reach this 51% reduction by 2030, we will clearly have to look at every measure possible. I am wondering if it is time to consider free public transport in this country. Transport, as we know, is responsible for 18% of emissions. Of that, fossil fuel from car travel is responsible for 13%.
A very good People Before Profit policy.
Two of the barriers to public transport are accessibility, in that the public transport is not there, and affordability. In Ireland, we have some of the most expensive public transport in Europe. There was an EY report that suggested this move would achieve a 1% reduction in emissions. That was almost portrayed as a negative thing, but in this race against global warming, we need every single percentage reduction in emissions possible and this will achieve a 1% reduction. Many measures are met with resistance and controversy. This is a measure that will get buy-in from everybody across the country, so it should be considered.
I previously brought up the issue of Carlinn Hall and the communal heating system fed by gas. There is a particular issue with these designs. The district heating steering group would need to report. I like to think that report would contain that sort of information. A geothermal feasibility study has been carried out in Carlinn Hall. In fairness, as I said, the Taoiseach's office came back to me about a timeline and it has been updated since. The first part of the report is to be at the end of June and the second is at the end of the summer. We would need to make sure there is a grant scheme that would facilitate the switching to something like geothermal. We also need to look at it from the point of view of a proper district heating survey and scheme across the board.
I thank Deputies for their questions. Deputy Hourigan asked about progress on geothermal energy. I am familiar with one or two proposals in the south west of Dublin, which have been around for a long time, about 15 or 20 years. They are interesting and exciting. I do not know enough about the technology to know to what extent they are viable but the Deputy is correct in saying that we need to have a policy framework. I am not sure what the timeline for that is but I will check with the Minister, Deputy Ryan, and get back to Deputy Hourigan as soon as I can.
On the nature law, despite the existence of habitats and birds directives for several decades, the EU, including Ireland, continues to see an alarming loss of biodiversity. The nature law is all about arresting and reversing it. Consideration of draft regulations is continuing at the moment. As Deputies will know, there are different proposals. There is the European Commission proposal, the European Council proposal which has just been adopted, and a draft proposal at the European Parliament, which it has not yet adopted. There will be a trilogue. I support the Council proposal, which was agreed by the Minister, Deputy Ryan, yesterday. I believe it is realistic in its targets, flexibilities and compensation that will be provided to landowners.
It is particularly significant that the Council proposal yesterday allows for the fact that when it comes to renewable energy, the installation, grid, wires and so on will be considered imperative reasons of overriding public interest, IROPI, and effectively exempt from the nature law. That totally proves that those who said there was not a conflict between renewable energy and climate action and the Parliament's proposal got it wrong, whether it was MEP, Mr. Wallace, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit, or others. That provision would not be in the Council proposal adopted yesterday if there were not genuine concerns about how an overly restrictive nature law could impact on climate action and renewables. I am glad to see that in the Council proposal yesterday. It now goes into trilogue. As a Government, we support what was agreed yesterday.
That is some spin.
On the EPA issue, the latest greenhouse gas emissions figures from the EPA highlight the challenge that Ireland faces in meeting its climate objectives.
What about Ringsend - the swimming?
The EPA has projected that Ireland is on course to reduce emissions by 29% by 2030. However, if all the unmodelled actions and as yet unallocated emission savings in the climate action plan are included, then the EPA's projected emissions reduction would be 42%. While projections show that emissions are expected to decrease in almost all sectors, it is clear that Ireland has work to do to meet our challenges and legally binding emissions targets. Change is now under way across our economy and society to realign ourselves to a low-carbon future. Reducing emissions is now at the heart of our policies and sectors. It is essential that we quickly translate our high-level goals and plans to meaningful actions on the ground.
We need to implement fully the actions of the Climate Action Plan 2023 and strengthen additional measures needed to reach our targets. I can confirm to the Deputies that of course we intend to meet our 51% reduction target by 2030. Rather than treating industry as enemies, we are engaging with industry. It is interesting to meet firms like Diageo, for example, in the brewing sector, and Lilly in the pharmaceutical sector, to see how ambitious and feasible their plans to meet net zero are, because they know it is in their economic interest to do so.
What about the swimming?
I will get a reply from the Minister for the Deputy. I have run out of time.