New report says the Irish transport system is unfit to meet emissions targets

Image via Pixabay

The Irish transport system encourages car use by design - and is unfit to meet the country's carbon emissions targets.

A report from the Climate Change Advisory Council and the OECD looked into how Ireland's transport could become net zero.

The report says the over-reliance on cars in Ireland make the need for rapid electrification slow and difficult, and policies in the Climate Action Plan are unlikely to change the country's car-dependency.

The authors say there needs to be a change in mindsets around car ownership - and says a series of policies are needed to ensure that public transport is the first choice for the majority of trips.

Ireland has a legally-binding target from the European Union to reduce emissions by 50 percent by 2030 - and they isn't the first report to doubt the possibility of the country hitting that target.

This study shows that Ireland's dependency on cars isn't helping the target - and says they are incompatible.

Transport Minister Eamon Ryan says the report shows Ireland has enormous opportunities and has called on every local authority in the country to identify priority public transport.