'Truly alarming' - TD says latest EPA report shows Ireland's climate action failure

A TD has called the latest report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) "truly alarming". 

Deputy Ivana Bacik raised the issue with Minister Eamon Ryan in the Dáil yesterday, seeking an explanation about what she called a lack of urgency on climate action and why Ireland's carbon budgets remain unpublished. 

Speaking on the issue, Deputy Bacik said, "The report published by the EPA this morning is truly alarming. The fact that our 2020 emissions slowed by 0.4% in a world that had ground to a halt due to the pandemic is really worrying. There can be no further delay, as the EPA itself said, Ireland must implement effective policies and measures as quickly as possible." 

According to Minister Ryan, publication of carbon budgets and consideration by government of the draft climate action plan will not take place until approximately November 3rd and beyond. 

Deputy Bacik said it showed "quite significant slippage" and called the delay "simply not good enough". 

She said, "The very fact that the publication and scrutiny of Ireland’s fiscal and carbon budgets was not aligned is troubling. It would have been useful to scrutinise Budget 2022 in the context of our vital climate action targets to ensure that they were aligned." 

According to figures in the EPA report, Ireland exceeded its 2020 annual EU emissions allocation by 6.7 metric tonnes. 

Although transport emissions declined due to Covid-19 transport restrictions, agriculture emissions increased by 1.4% and have increased by 12% in the last 10 years. 

Increases in 2020 were reportedly due to increased fertiliser nitrogen use and increased number of livestock including a 3.2% rise in dairy cows.