The Government\u2019s climate change plan requires massive capital spending which is not available because it refuses to challenge EU spending rules, according to R\u00f3is\u00edn Shortall TD.<\/p>\n
The co-leader of the Social Democrats said the National Mitigation Plan published today was an exercise in wishful thinking, as the government is not in a position to invest in the 106 actions it outlines.<\/p>\n
Deputy Shortall said:<\/p>\n
\u201cToday we see a national plan which amounts to a repackaging of existing commitments. Yet the key to actually transforming the country to achieve reductions in carbon emissions is substantial investment \u2013 and the number one blockage is the lack of ambition in the government\u2019s capital plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout flexibility on the fiscal rules in relation to capital funding, we are not going be able to achieve emissions targets. This means that the country will continue to face huge fines for failing to meet climate change targets, which could amount to several hundred million euro a year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe paltry amount devoted to capital investment in last week\u2019s Summer Economic Statement lays bare the government\u2019s huge mistake in not earmarking any of the proceeds from the sale of AIB shares for infrastructure projects. The government is making the same mistake now by promising further cuts to income taxes which will further erode the tax base.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deputy Shortall added:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s clear that the EU\u2019s fiscal rules on capital investment are completely inappropriate for Ireland\u2019s economic situation and climate change ambitions. The rules are a straight jacket which are damaging the management of the economy and the environment. Yet there is no evidence that the government has even challenged these. Without some kind of break-through we aren\u2019t going to deal with the severe under-investment in capital spending which makes today\u2019s plan nothing more than an exercise in wishful thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n
ENDS<\/p>\n
19 July 2017<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Government\u2019s climate change plan requires massive capital spending which is not available because it refuses to challenge EU spending rules, according to R\u00f3is\u00edn Shortall TD. The co-leader of the Social Democrats said the National Mitigation Plan published today was an exercise in wishful thinking, as the government is not in a position to invest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,7],"tags":[98,99,100,16],"class_list":["post-238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-news","category-press-release","tag-climate-change","tag-european-union","tag-national-mitigation-plan","tag-roisin-shortall"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n