Ireland has taken "major steps" in meeting its commitments on emissions under the Kyoto agreement, Minister for the Environment Dick Roche said today.
Speaking at the Fianna Fail Ardfheis in Dublin this morning, Mr Roche said Ireland was "certainly not the bad boy of the class".
"Seven of the 15 EU member states that signed on for Kyoto are further from their Kyoto targets than Ireland," he told delegates.
He said between 1990 and 2004 the economy had grown by 150 per cent in but emissions had only grown by 25 per cent.
"In short and notwithstanding all of the bleating we hear from opponents we have taken the major steps necessary to comply fully with our Kyoto commitments.
"We recognise, too, that there is no single silver bullet solution to deal with climate change. Our priorities going forward will be based on comprehensive environmental, energy and climate change policies adopted by this Government."
He said the Fianna Fail in Government would:
- deliver one third of electricity from renewable sources by 2020;
- make maximum use of new technology for the co-generation of Irish power stations with biomass and plan for the use of carbon capture and clean goal generation technology;
- develop waste policies that are environmentally sustainable & cut emissions;
- create new opportunities for farmers in bio-fuel production and creating a new bio-fuel industry in Ireland;
- introduce a minimum requirement for the use of bio-fuels in State owned and public transport vehicles;
- require the public sector to lead the way on energy efficiency;
- Improve the energy efficiency of new Irish homes by at least 40 per cent.
"Our comprehensive programmes will ensure we meet our Kyoto Targets for 2012 and beyond", Mr Roche added.
He also said a "sinister and powerful pro-nuclear lobby" was attempting to use the climate change debate to its own ends.
"Yes, let there be a debate. A debate about the risks when things go wrong, a debate about the waste which we would leave behind for hundreds of generations to come, a debate about the hazards to Ireland from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel across the Irish Sea."
He added that the Government under Fianna Fáil has been actively campaigning for the cessation of all radioactive discharges to the Irish Sea from Sellafield.
