We heard today that the Cabinet will not approve the updated climate action plan before the Dáil rises for Christmas. I understand the plan is to go to next week’s Cabinet meeting just before Christmas. That means we in opposition will not have the opportunity to scrutinise the plan in a Dáil debate. It means yet another delay in publishing much-needed plans to tackle the climate crisis. The latest update to the current plan shows that 23% of targets due for completion by the end of September were missed.

When will we have the opportunity to debate the plan? Will it be as early as possible in the new year? How can we have confidence the Government will meet climate targets if everything is subject to such delay? We are seeing delays in the publication of the climate action plan, just as we saw delays in the carbon budgets and sectoral emissions ceilings.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. It will go to Cabinet next week. It is an enormously detailed plan. The challenges facing us in respect of achieving our emissions targets are extraordinary. A wide range of measures must be taken by every sector in society to deal with climate change. There will be ample time in this House early in the new term to debate the content of the plan. More than just debate, we need a collective resolve to implement the plan because it is extremely challenging.