TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has claimed his government will do a better job on climate change than “even” the Green Party, as he came under pressure for his record on the issue in the Dáil today. 

A report from the Environmental Protection Agency, released today, has found that Ireland is on course to deliver only half the greenhouse gas emissions reductions required by 2030.

Raising the issue in the Dáil during Leaders’ Questions, Labour leader Ivana Bacik said the government was “failing” on climate targets as she heavily criticised climate minister Darragh O’Brien.

Earlier, speaking on RTÉ Radio 1’s Today with David McCullagh show, O’Brien urged people to look on the “positive side” of the missed targets and noted that Ireland has been able to decouple economic growth from emissions.

“However he tries to spin it, and he’s good at spinning, there’s no silver lining,” Bacik said in the Dáil.

“The Green Party’s exit from government marked the death knell of Fianna Fáil’s ambition on climate,” she added.

Bacik also said it was “laughable” that the 2026 Climate Action plan has not yet been published.

O’Brien said he will be bringing the plan to cabinet in “the coming weeks” and that it will be a “slimmed down” plan that “people can actually read”. 

Responding to Bacik, the Taoiseach said he “strongly” rejects Bacik’s assertion that the government is not taking climate change seriously. 

He suggested that the Greens and Labour take a “fundamentalist” and “purist” approach to climate change and said “perfect is the enemy of the good”.

“We will achieve far more on climate than perhaps your approach, or even at times the Green Party approach, because we do need to bring people with us, and that consensus has broken down,” he said.

Responding to an assertion by Bacik that the government’s Critical Infrastructure Bill “fundamentally undermines the climate act”, the Taoiseach said environmental law is “being weaponised at every turn”.

“You need to face up to it, and don’t be naive,” Martin said.

Earlier, O’Brien admitted that it is “going to be very difficult to hit that 2030 target” but suggested it could be reached in 2031 or 2032.

“I don’t expect us to hit the 2030 target, but we won’t be far off it. And we’ll be reaching that target early in the 2030s,” the minister said.