Aontú TD Paul Lawless has called on the government to conduct analysis to determine what sort of fines Ireland is heading towards over failure to meet climate targets by 2030.
In an exchange with Minister Alan Dillon in the Dáil today, Deputy Lawless called for clarity.
Speaking today, he said: “The Climate Change Advisory Council has estimated compliance costs of anywhere between €3 billion and €28 billion if Ireland fails to meet its 2030 climate emissions targets. At the moment it looks as though we will definitely miss these targets. These were the targets which were set by the government. Today in the Dáil I repeatedly asked the relevant Minister – Alan Dillon – what these fines are likely to be in money value, but he repeatedly refused to answer the question”.
Deputy Lawless continued: “This is not small money. We’re talking about potentially tens of billions here. We often hear about the scandalous overspend on the National Children’s Hospital. These fines could potentially cost us 13 times what the National Children’s Hospital cost us. The Environmental Protection Agency projects that at best Ireland will reach a 23% emissions reduction against a binding EU target of 42% which the government has signed us up to. In 2021 Aontú was the only political party to vote against the Climate Action Bill in the Dáil which set emissions targets. We did so because we knew the government would miss the targets and face fines, and we also knew the government would adopt a punitive more stick and less carrot approach in terms of introducing carbon taxes which are crippling people at the petrol pumps at the moment”.
“When did the government find out we were going to miss the targets, and do they know how much of a financial penalty we’re likely to be hit with or even a rough estimate. These are the questions I asked today on the floor of the Dáil for which Alan Dillon did not appear to have an answer. All three responsible Ministers were in the chamber today and couldn’t answer basic questions. This is one of the biggest fines the government could face, it is actually one of the single biggest expenditures which the government could incur on any one issue. This is extremely serious and the relevant Ministers need to wake up to the reality here and prepare or explore our options in terms of re-negotiating so as to protect the taxpayer from these extortionate costs”, concluded Lawless.
