The Green Party has called on Fine Gael and the Independent Ministers to stop burying their heads in the sand and get serious about emission reductions in transport, energy, housing, and agriculture.

Leader Eamon Ryan said land-use plan needs to be established to reconsider the nature of farming, forestry, biodiversity management, and flood management and protection.

He also welcomed the publication of the Government's first Climate Change Adaptation Plan, but warned that dredging rivers and building ever-higher walls would not be sufficient in tackling the threats posed by climate change.

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He said: "By protecting our bogs, by changing how farming and forestry work, we can prevent flooding and restore life to rural Ireland.

"We need to look long term and heed the warnings of the scientific community that sea level rises and increased rainfall and storms put all of our cities and coastal communities at risk.

"Our adaptation will work best if we work with nature, rather than against it. Instead of dredging every river and building ever higher walls, we need to ensure every future development allows us to deal with more extreme weather events in a sustainable way.

"We welcome the establishment of Local Authority Regional Climate Action Offices to lead climate action on a local level. However, this must be matched by change at central Government."

(CD/MH)