The Government must spend less time trying to find loopholes to dodge EU fines and more time making genuine attempts to reduce our emissions, according to Social Democrats climate spokesperson Jennifer Whitmore.<\/p>\n
Deputy Whitmore said:<\/p>\n
\u201cProjections by the Environmental Protection Agency show an overall reduction of 25% in \u00a0greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 is possible – but this high watermark amounts to only half of the decrease that is required by law.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn response, Climate Minister Darragh O’Brien took to the airwaves this morning, speaking delusionally to RT\u00c9 radio listeners about the prospect of meeting these targets. The Minister responsible has stuck his head in the sand when faced with the level of abject failure.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if every measure in the Government\u2019s most recent Climate Action Plan is achieved, it will only result in a 29% emissions cut. There\u2019s no reason to believe that this will happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of committing wholeheartedly to meeting our targets, the Government is attempting to lobby at EU level for fines to be ditched when we inevitably fall short of what is required.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Government is playing chicken with the EU while \u20ac28 billion of public money is at risk of being gobbled up in fines. This is grossly irresponsible and a bad-faith manner in which to approach the climate crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cMinimising the risk of potential EU fines is reckless. Government complacency will not only put our public finances at risk, it will accelerate climate change and lead to more frequent extreme weather events.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we are to have any chance of reaching our targets, we must commit to introducing a new climate action plan that will radically decrease our greenhouse gas emissions. The Social Democrats have outlined a suite of measures which would do so, but they\u2019ve fallen on deaf ears.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur Solar for All plan, for example, includes a doubling of grants for solar installation to \u20ac3,600, and the inclusion of solar panels in the \u2018Warmer Homes Scheme\u2019 to help families cut electricity costs by an average of \u20ac450 a year while reducing our emissions.<\/p>\n
\u201cUp to a million homes in Ireland are deemed suitable for solar panels and a nationwide installation programme could be rolled out relatively quickly. This is something we have been calling for since 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no more time for delay; the Government must commit to genuine climate measures to give us any chance of reaching our 2030 targets.\u201d<\/p>\n
May 27th, 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Government must spend less time trying to find loopholes to dodge EU fines and more time making genuine attempts to reduce our emissions, according to Social Democrats climate spokesperson Jennifer Whitmore. Deputy Whitmore said: \u201cProjections by the Environmental Protection Agency show an overall reduction of 25% in \u00a0greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 is possible […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13985,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[405,539,727,736,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","category-energy","category-environment","category-eu","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n