It was announced yesterday that June was the hottest month in recorded history. It broke the record set in June 2015, which is not surprising because May also was the hottest May ever in history, as was the case in respect of April, March, February, January, December and pretty much every month for the past 14 months. What is happening to the planet is beyond comparison with anything even the most strident scientists thought would happen in respect of global warming starting to take effect. It also is clear that Ireland is not living up to the call made earlier this week by the former President, Mary Robinson, which is that the wealthy industrialised countries must act first and strongest when faced by that scientific reality and the scale of the challenge. Ireland has the third highest per capita emissions in Europe. Ireland is one of only two countries in Europe that will not meet the international commitments we made to cut our emissions by 2020. We will not get next or near them and will be lucky to get halfway there. I reiterate we are one of only two countries in Europe that has managed that, as all the other countries have managed to meet the targets they have set.

This is not a surprise because it largely is due to a lack of political will. It is due to the halving of budgets on retrofitting buildings in the term of the previous Government and our lack of smart meters, which every other advanced country is now putting in place. Moreover, much as we need roads, we need public transport more and the previous Government pulled all the major public transport projects. Ireland's transport emissions are now expected to grow by 16% between now and 2020. Similarly, because of the policies the Government has set in agriculture, Ireland's emissions in that sector are due to increase by 7% between now and 2020. I could go through every sector in which action must be taken; no action is being taken.

If one talks to anyone in Brussels, one will be told the only political response from the outgoing Government was to expend all the political capital Ireland gained in Europe over the past five years to try to achieve one thing, which it achieved yesterday, that is, to get Ireland off the hook and not to have a firm commitment to take further action. The facts in this regard are clear. Ireland's 2020 target was to cut its emissions by 20% whereas its 2030 target is to cut its emissions - effectively when one includes all the buyouts we have secured - by 20.4%. As a result of what was agreed yesterday, we have a 0.4% increase in our ambition. This will cost us all dearly because some of the buyouts we secured will require us to buy ourselves out. Moreover, some of the science to which we are looking to try to get out of taking any further effort is highly questionable, may not hold up and may leave us being obliged to make much more significant strides in later years.

My question to the Tánaiste is why has the Government spent all its political capital to define Ireland as a country that wants to fiddle while the rest of the world burns? Surely it is not in our interests to place Ireland at the bottom of the league on climate, which is what the Government is doing. Furthermore, we will miss out on the economic opportunity that will come to those countries that lead. Why does the Government insist on trying to turn this green country brown?

Ireland is committed to achieving the transition to a competitive low-carbon climate-resilient and environmentally sustainable economy and as the Deputy stated, it makes sense to so do. Access to secure, clean, affordable energy is essential to our future economic growth and our ability to attract and retain investment to Ireland and to build Irish enterprise depends on our ability to guarantee a reliable supply of energy, for example, at a competitive cost. We must lessen our dependence on fossil fuels and must reduce our emissions and the Government has engaged in detailed discussions with the Commission, as the Deputy is aware, to highlight some particular issues in respect of Ireland. As the Deputy noted, there is a package of measures and I reiterate to him there has been extensive engagement with the Commission on the issue to date. As the Deputy is aware, it will be a challenge for the agriculture sector to meet the targets. That point has been made and there has been highly detailed discussion on that, on the implications for Ireland and on how we best manage the targets. Those discussions were held in that context, that is, it was necessary to have detailed discussions on the agriculture and forestry industries. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has engaged with the Commission for some years to ensure this clear understanding of the agriculture and forestry sectors in Ireland, as well as to seek consistency between European Union agrifood and climate policies. While the Government is committed, there are particular issues it was necessary to discuss. The Government wanted to make sure that whatever we agree is consistent with those fundamental principles and proposals from the Council the Deputy has outlined. The Government is committed to moving forward. It has made the case regarding particular sectors of the economy in which particular difficulties arise but the Government is committed. Moreover, the Deputy should note the Government is committed to public transport. That programme and the capital moneys that are available now are committed to the development of proper public transport infrastructure nationwide.

How can the Tánaiste state the Government is committed? How can one say the Government is committed when, if one examines what was agreed yesterday, the neighbouring countries of Britain, Germany, Denmark, Finland and Sweden - the countries with which we should be comparing ourselves - are twice as committed? As I stated, Ireland effectively is going for a 20% target for 2030 whereas they effectively are going for 40%. The Tánaiste is correct; the Government did engage with the Commission in Brussels and was highly successful. It basically used all of Ireland's political capital to state Ireland should be counted out. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, who is sitting beside the Tánaiste, should have real concerns about this because the rest of the world not just in Europe, but in America and in Asia, is starting to take this issue seriously because they can see the world burning and want to play their part. Moreover, they think economic opportunities will come from it. The real risk is that in holding Ireland back and in stating it should be counted out, as it will not play its part, we will miss the economic opportunity that comes for those who lead.

I note the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources is speaking. In the debate last night on the Energy Bill, he recognised that not only are we falling behind on our emissions targets, but we are also falling behind in our renewables targets. As the Minister stated last night, every percentage point that we are below our targets in that area will cost us €150 million per year and as the Minister for Finance recognised in the spring economic statement, our failure to meet even those low targets we now are setting for 2020 will cost us further hundreds of millions of euro. To conclude, if we are serious, we will need a quadrupling of the money the Minister, Deputy Naughten, gets. We will need a tripling of the public transport budget and will need to make some tough and strong political decisions, rather than stating we are committed, only to then do the exact opposite in the international arena.

In line with the new procedures, I will ask the Minister, Deputy Naughten, to respond directly since he has been mentioned by the Deputy in respect of the negotiations, which were based on scientific evidence.

I thank Deputy Eamon Ryan for the points he has raised. As he is aware, this issue was debated in the House last night and for its 2030 targets, the Government seeks targets that are achievable and cost-effective. I believe that when we have the full detail-----

On a point of order-----

The Deputy cannot raise a point of order on Leaders' Questions.

May I ask a follow-up question?

No.

We have a new way of doing business.

Not on Leaders' Questions.

Not on Leaders' Questions.

Yes.

It only applies to the Order of Business.

Please allow the Minister to conclude.

The Government is making it up as it goes along.

The 2030 targets are based on detailed evidence that was submitted. A lot of work was done by UCC on it. The difficulty arose in relation to the 2020 targets. It has been openly admitted by the Commission, with which the Government at the time negotiated, that the evidence was not as forthcoming for our 2020 targets as was the case for the 2030 targets. The baselines and projections used were such that reaching the 2020 targets was always going to be unachievable. What we now have are targets that are realistic and, we believe, achievable.

Change the goalposts.

Do we have a new leader?

We now move on to questions on proposed legislation. As there are only 15 minutes allocated, Deputies are allowed only one minute on each question.

It is a trial run.

That is actually not allowed. Did you break the rules, a Cheann Comhairle?

There has been a slight deviation from normal practice.

It is the last day of the session.