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National Mitigation Plan

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 May 2018

Tuesday, 8 May 2018

Ceisteanna (410, 411)

Eamon Ryan

Ceist:

410. Deputy Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if the term "non-zero emission vehicle" in regard to the commitment in the National Development Plan 2018-2027 encompasses vehicles equipped with a combustion engine regardless of fuel and other propulsion systems which may also be installed, such that no new hybrid propulsion vehicles that include a combustion engine will be sold here after 2030. [20110/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Eamon Ryan

Ceist:

411. Deputy Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the rationale for delaying the ban on sales of non-zero emission vehicles until 2030 in view of the large and accumulating overshoot of carbon dioxide emissions from the transport sector relative to EU targets and the temperature goals for the Paris Agreement; and his costed plans for drawing down the corresponding excess carbon dioxide that will be emitted to the atmosphere and that is directly attributable to this delay. [20111/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

I propose to take Questions Nos. 410 and 411 together.

Ireland's first statutory National Mitigation Plan, which I published in July last year, provides a framework to guide investment decisions by Government in domestic measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The purpose of the Plan is to specify the policy measures required in order to manage Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions at a level appropriate for making progress towards our long-term national transition objective as set out in the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015, as well as to take into account existing EU and international obligations on the State in relation to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Although this first Plan will not provide a complete roadmap to achieve the national transition objective to 2050, it begins the process of development of medium- to long-term options to ensure that we are well positioned to take the necessary actions in the next and future decades.

Building on the National Mitigation Plan, the publication in February of the National Development Plan, will lead to a significant step change in funding available for climate action over the next decade. Almost €22 billion will be directed, between Exchequer and non-Exchequer resources, to addressing the transition to a low-carbon and climate resilient society. In addition, the National Development Plan allocated a further €8.6 billion for investments in sustainable mobility. This capital investment will enable us to deliver a significant reduction in our greenhouse gas emissions over the period to 2030.

Within the framework of the National Mitigation Plan, the transport sector will need to play a strong role in contributing to our national emissions reduction effort and the Department for Transport, Tourism and Sport is working closely with my Department to develop and implement the policies and measures necessary to achieve these emissions reductions.

In May 2017, the National Policy Framework on Alternative Fuels Infrastructure for Transport in Ireland was published. It set out the ambition that by 2030 all new cars and vans sold in Ireland will be zero-emissions capable. This ambition was also included in the National Mitigation Plan and was further reinforced by the commitment in the National Development Plan 2018-2027, published in February 2018, that no new non-zero emission vehicles would be sold in Ireland post 2030. Achieving the National Development Plan ambition would require that no new fossil fuel powered cars, including hybrid variants, would be sold in Ireland post-2030.

In order to consider the range of measures and options available to Government to accelerate the uptake of lower emitting vehicles, a dedicated Low Emission Vehicle Taskforce was established. The low emission vehicle transition will be delivered as quickly and as effectively as possible through a combination of implementing the measures outlined in the National Mitigation Plan, the National Planning Framework and the National Development Plan; realising the outcomes of the Low Emission Vehicle Taskforce deliberations; and developing new and innovative policy interventions in the years ahead in light of technological and market developments.

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