All aspects of the NDP assessed against environmental and climate outcomes – Farrell

Every measure included in the Government’s National Development Plan (NDP) was assessed against seven environmental and climate outcomes, a Fine Gael TD has said.

Dublin Fingal TD and Fine Gael Spokesperson on Climate Action, Deputy Alan Farrell said, “Environmental sustainability is not only at the heart of the new NDP, it’s at the core of each and every commitment outlined in the plan. No other National Development Plan has ever been assessed in such a way, and this marks a massive shift in our thinking and evaluation of Ireland’s infrastructural planning, priorities and investment.

“The plan commits to funding projects across housing, transport, health, enterprise and education, and measures to help us meet our commitment of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030 are included in each area.

“The centrality of climate sustainability in the NDP is exemplified by the prioritisation of investment in our transport infrastructure. The plan includes a €35 billion investment in transport, the largest-ever spend on transport infrastructure in the history of the State. Within this investment, we are funding new public transport ahead of new roads with a 2:1 spending ratio in favour of public transport projects.

“The plan also includes an unprecedented level of investment in residential retrofitting, with a target of retrofitting 500,000 homes over the next ten years. Exchequer allocations for residential retrofitting will almost double within four years, going from €202 million in 2022 to €469 million in 2025.

“In order to meet this target of 500,000 homes, we need to make sure that it is easy and affordable for people to make their homes more energy efficient. The NDP has committed to supporting people in accessing energy solutions with the development of the new Residential Retrofit Loan Guarantee Scheme which will improve access to low cost finance for home energy upgrades.

“Sustainable electricity generation must be guaranteed in order to effect real climate action over the next ten years. Under the NDP, up to 80% of electricity generated in Ireland will be from a combination of onshore and offshore renewable sources by 2030.

“Fine Gael laid the groundwork for today’s National Development Plan with the publication of Project Ireland 2040 in 2018. The NDP’s investment of €165 billion is a continuation of work that began under Fine Gael four years ago and has continued to prioritise sustainable solutions to the issues we face across our society,” Deputy Farrell concluded.