Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 June 2026
143. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment when he expects to publish the Climate Action Plan 2026; the reasons for the continued delay in its publication; the implications of this delay for Ireland’s ability to meet its legally binding carbon budgets and sectoral emissions ceilings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44687/26]
View answerThis Government is committed to delivering on Ireland’s responsibility to address the climate crisis and work remains ongoing across Government Departments to carry out climate mitigation efforts every day.
The EPA's latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory shows that Ireland has recorded overall greenhouse gas emission reductions for a third consecutive year, and we now have the lowest levels of emissions in 35 years. In its latest GHG Projections from May of this year, the EPA now projects that we are on course to meet the first carbon budget, and the projections for 2030 have improved since last year. We are working to further narrow the gap to the 2030 target through accelerated delivery.
Ireland now has the lowest level of GHG emissions in 35 years, which is notable given the concurrent population increase of approximately 1.5 million people, with more than one million new homes added to the housing stock and over one million extra vehicles on our roads, in that time. We have decoupled economic success and green house gas emissions.
We are making significant strides toward our target of 80% renewable energy by 2030, we now have 8GW onshore renewable electricity generation and, in April, we had enough solar power on the grid at a single time to power 500,000 customers. The recent ORESS Tonn Nua offshore wind auction will secure enough clean electricity to power 1,000,000 homes, and we have five Phase One developments progressing through planning this year.
To support this transition, the Government has approved an unprecedented investment of €18.9 billion in the Grid for the period 2026 – 2030. This represents the largest ever investment in our electricity grid, delivering major upgrades and developments to allow for the greater electrification of homes, businesses, and transport.
Work is currently underway on the next Climate Action Plan. Following the extensive recommendations delivered by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy late last year and the extensive work the Committee carried out in the preparation of its Report on Barriers to Achieving Climate Targets in February of this year, I and the Government are taking the necessary time to carefully reflect on the outcome of these processes and the other preparatory work. In that regard, my Department is working towards bringing a draft of the new Climate Action Plan to Government later this year.
In the meantime, the rollout of retrofitting, renewable energy deployment, and more affordable electric vehicles continues at increasing pace. Climate Action Plans 2024 and 2025, which build on the series of preceding plans, remain in place and provides an extremely strong framework for delivery of climate action to 2030 - many of their commitments are multi annual in nature and we will focus on their delivery.
To maintain and build on our momentum in delivering this transformation, we have put enhanced governance structures in place to speed up delivery and unlock barriers to progress. I now chair the Climate Action Delivery Board and the Climate Action Plan Programme Board has been newly established. These are providing direct oversight on the delivery of our highest impact measures across twelve cross-departmental taskforces, driving delivery in all major sectors. These groups will have a vital role to play as we work on preparation of the next Climate Action Plan, which will be a more focussed plan, identifying strategic, realistic, high-impact actions to drive us closer towards our ambitious targets.
