Fianna Fáil Senator Dee Ryan has said it would be “an act of economic self-harm” to adhere to “punitive” climate targets in the event of “the worst-case economic scenario” triggered by US tariffs.
In an interview with Gript earlier today, Senator Ryan stressed the need for a balanced approach to climate commitments amid growing economic uncertainty.
Her comments follow Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s recent announcement that the government is considering legislative options to remove Dublin Airport’s passenger cap, currently set at 32 million passengers annually. The cap was introduced in 2007 to ease traffic congestion but is now viewed by Martin as economically restrictive.
Previous attempts to expand airport capacity faced significant opposition from the Green Party during its coalition with the government, with concerns raised about the potential impact on Ireland’s climate and carbon emission targets.
Significantly, under the European Union’s Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR), member states, including Ireland, are legally obliged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to meet collective EU climate goals. Failure to achieve these targets can result in substantial financial penalties and necessitate the purchase of surplus emissions allowances from other member states.
Reports indicate that Ireland risks incurring compliance costs ranging from €8 billion to €26 billion by 2030 if it does not implement its emissions-reduction plans effectively.
Asked how the Government would square economic policies like expanding airports with meeting lofty climate goals, Fianna Fáil Senator Dee Ryan said that a “pragmatic” approach was needed.
“I think we have to take an absolute pragmatic approach to this,” she said.
“We should and will continue to strive for the target climates that we’ve set for ourselves, but we’ll have to keep it under review as things progress.”
Ryan conceded that short-term tensions might arise between climate goals and economic necessities.
“In the short term, there may be a tension between achieving those targets as we strive to pivot our focus economically and to develop alternative energy sources,” she said.
“Certainly, it would be an act of economic self-harm to stick to punitive [climate] targets in, you know, the worst-case economic scenario. But we’re not there yet, and we’ll keep monitoring it closely and take action and talk to our European colleagues if and when the need arises.”
Ryan emphasised that Ireland should not immediately pull out of climate agreements, but should wait and see the economic lay of the land in the next few years to observe the best course of action to “keep all options open.”
She also said that, in the face of the Trump administrations tariffs, the country should prioritise maximising existing airport capacities to bolster economic resilience in the face of potential US protectionist measures.
“The most sustainable airport is the airport that’s already built,” she said.
“I would be again pressing the Minister for Transport and my government colleagues to really look at maximising the use in our existing airports, in tandem with examining how best we can ensure that we have the continuing economic strength to look after all that our country needs us to look after in the coming years.”
She also highlighted the risks for regional economies if the government failed to act decisively.
“All we know from previous economic crashes, unfortunately, [is] that regional areas and regional economies actually recover more slowly than other parts of the country,” she said.
“After the last crash, when the green shoots were appearing, they were appearing in Dublin first and in the greater Dublin area. There was a significant lag in job numbers and unemployment numbers recovering in regional parts, and in some rural parts of the country, we’ve never really gotten quite back to where we were.”
Ryan underscored Ireland’s opportunity in renewable energy, particularly offshore wind.
“We really need to create the DMAPs; they’re the designated maritime area planning zones in which the renewable energy companies can apply for their permissions in order to set up wind farms, and we need to do that at speed,” she said.
Speaking earlier this week, Taoiseach Micheál Martin emphasised the urgency of lifting the Dublin Airport cap.
“We’re looking at every option to get this sorted,” Martin told Newstalk on Monday.
“Whatever we do has to be within the proper legal framework, and we’re conscious that anything we may do could be subject to challenge, but that said there is an imperative to get it lifted, in my view.”