Michael McCarthy TD has welcomed confirmation that the final heads of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill will be published before Easter 2014.

"Climate change is one of the key issues facing the world today and it is important that we formulate the necessary policy and legislation to help Ireland move to a low carbon and environmentally sustainable economy and society.

"This Bill will provide the legislative basis on which Ireland will deal with the serious issue of climate change.

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"The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht, last November published its report on the draft Heads of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill. The report sets out a number of possible courses of action that will be key in future deliberations of the Bill.

"The committee concluded that a national roadmap for achieving low carbon objectives is needed. It also recommended that intervals between national roadmaps be no greater than five years.

"As well as that, there is a bigger emphasis on the Expert Advisory Body, with the committee suggesting there should be an insistence on full independence and a regular and robust reporting mechanism, and that it should be set up in a way that is similar to the Fiscal Advisory Council.

"This legislation will provide certainty surrounding Government policy and will provide a clear pathway for emissions reductions, in line with negotiated EU targets."

(CD/JP)