Minister O’Brien “needs to get the finger out” on climate, says Ahern

A new report from the Environmental Protection Agency shows that Ireland is on track miss legally binding climate targets – and Labour TD Ciáran Ahern said it was the Irish taxpayer who could foot the bill for government inaction on the issue.

Ahern has said that the government needs to get its act together on climate action if we are to avoid potential fines of up to €26 billion.

The Dublin South-West TD said “the EPA data released today should come as a stark warning to goerernment that it needs to double down on its efforts to combat the climate crisis.”

“This comes during the same week in which Minister O’Brien admitted to the Climate Committee that we would, at best, only reduce our emissions by half of the 2030 target,” he noted.

“The effects of the climate crisis are already being felt around the world. We’ve seen extreme weather events in America, in Spain and in just the last week we’ve seen almost 50 people killed as a result of flash floods in Pakistan. Ireland won’t be immune from such events. We’ve had our warnings – Storm Éowyn, Storm Ophelia and the ‘Beast from the East’ show an increasing frequency of extreme storms here.”

The Labour climate spokesperson said “the publication of this EPA data is particularly concerning given it comes at a time when the Government has overturned a ban on highly-polluting fracked gas, is greenlighting more and more fossil fuel-powered energy-guzzling data centres, and the key tenet of their transport policy is to pour more tarmac.”

“Not alone are the government being reckless in terms of mitigating climate catastrophe through their inaction, but they’re also being hugely irresponsible in terms of protecting public finances.”

Ahern commented, “this slow-down in emissions reductions makes it all the more likely that we’ll face €26 billion in fines for failing to meet our vital targets. That’s €26 billion that could be used for a proper State retrofitting programme to give people warmer, more energy efficient homes and lower bills or for investment in our public transport to reduce transport emissions.”

“The government need to realise the enormous opportunities in climate action. Yes, reducing our emissions is about securing our future, but it’s also about providing new, decent jobs for people, improving public health and protecting our environment.”

“Minister O’Brien needs to get the finger out, drop the regressive climate policies we’ve seen from his Department so far and take the ambitious and absolutely necessary steps we need to radically reduce our emissions.”