DATE: 17^th June 2003
TOPIC: Climate Change Strategy
QUESTION: 100

Mr. Cuffe asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his funding proposals for implementing Ireland's climate change strategy; and the proposed funding for 2003. [16634/03]

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government (Mr. Gallagher): My Department is responsible for providing overall leadership on implementation of the Government’s National Climate Change Strategy and this work is being co-ordinated through a cross Departmental climate change team chaired by my Department.  As climate change is a cross-cutting horizontal issue, involving a high degree of policy integration across major sector areas and co-ordination at a cross-sector level, there are no clearly identifiable funding lines provided for implementing the strategy.  All Departments, including my own, have responsibility for integrating the individual elements of the strategy into their ongoing work programmes in line with the principle of environmental integration and, therefore, ensuring sufficient funding is available generally for implementing the strategy.

Insofar as my Department is concerned, climate change related funding is provided as part of the overall Environmental Awareness Campaign, for climate change research topics under the Environmental Research Technological Development and Innovation programme, and supplementing resources generally as required.

Funding provided towards climate change in the ERTDI programme is administered on behalf of my Department by the Environmental Protection Agency.  Current funding for this programme comes from the National Development Plan 2000 to 2006, under the Productive Sector Operational Programme.  The ERTDI programme has committed funding of approximately €6m for climate change research.  Research is undertaken in a number of thematic areas and has been guided by issues identified in the National Climate Change Strategy (2000), the EPA Millennium State of the Environment Report (2000) as well as wide consultations with stakeholders, including the research community.