The Dáil has overwhelmingly approved the carbon budget today, with so few TDs in opposition that the matter didn’t even go to a vote.
The carbon budget – the first of its kind – will set a legal limit on how much carbon Ireland can emit by sector in order to meet its international climate targets. It sets a “budget” of how many tonnes of CO2 the State is allowed to release per year, and applies to all government departments.
The Govt #carbonbudgets approved without a vote as fewer than 10 TDs opposed it. Interestingly @sinnfeinireland signalled earlier in the chamber that it would not oppose the measure @rtenews
— Paul Cunningham (@RTENewsPaulC) April 6, 2022
However, when it came to voting on the legislation, only 8 Independents in total stood up to oppose it – less than the 10 TD threshold needed for a vote. As a result, the budget passed automatically.
Those who stood were TDs Mattie McGrath, Michael Healy-Rae, Danny Healy-Rae, Carol Nolan, Richard O’Donoghue, Michael Collins, Michael Fitzmaurice and Verona Murphy.
Notably, during the debate, Sinn Féin slammed the government not for its climate targets, but for its failure to meet them.
“This Government is great at making targets, but it does not actually achieve many,” said Sinn Féin TD Mark Ward.
“While we support the targets laid out in this document, I am not optimistic that the Government will achieve them.”
Additionally, Sinn Féin’s Housing Minister Eoin Ó Broin urged the government to move away from using steel, cement and concrete to save the planet.
“We have to shift away from high-carbon products such as steel, cement and concrete to the new technologies that are being used much more comprehensively in Scandinavia, Britain, France and continental Europe,” he said.
Moreover, People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy slammed the carbon budgets as not doing enough on climate change.
“The budgets are less ambitious than what is recommended by the EU,” he said.
“The EU looked for cuts of 55% by 2030, rather than 51%.”
He also complained that the budget doesn’t including emissions from shipping or aviation, urging the government to go even further with the policy. However, he did not oppose the measure.