The International Energy Agency (IEA) has called on Ireland to focus on urgent measures to reduce carbon emissions in its latest review.

In the IEA 2019 Review of Ireland's Energy Policies published yesterday, 15 April, the country was recognised as having the third highest share of wind generated electricity among all 30 IEA member countries.

Despite acknowledging the progress made in recent years, it was also noted how heavily reliant Ireland is on fossil fuels.

Paul Simons, IEA Deputy Executive Director, who presented the report, said: "Ireland has become a world leader on system integration of renewables thanks in large part to strong policy and commitment to innovation. Building on this success, we advise the government to urgently implement additional climate measures and monitor their progress to get the country back on track for long-term targets."

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Welcoming the review and its recommendations, Environment Minister Richard Bruton commented: "The International Energy Agency's review confirms that while recovery has seen some improvement in take up of renewables and in energy efficiency, Ireland has not broken the link between economic growth and prosperity and greenhouse gases. It highlights the major changes Ireland needs to make in how we heat our buildings, on how we move around and how we power our grid.

"The all of government plan will provide the clear targets and the policy roadmap which we need. However, the first challenge is to secure widespread buy-in across our entire community on the vital importance of the journey which we need to go on. This can only be achieved by all sections of our community working together."

(CM/JG)