The Government has insisted it remains committed to tackling climate change, after People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy accused Ministers of "giving up" on Ireland's emissions reduction targets following comments by Climate Minister Darragh O'Brien.

O'Brien said this week that the State is now on course to achieve only around half of its original target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 51 per cent by 2030, prompting renewed criticism from opposition figures.

Deputy Murphy claimed the revised projections showed a gap between the Government's rhetoric on the international stage and its actions at home, warning that Ireland could face EU fines of up to €28 billion by the end of the decade if targets are missed.

People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said: "The climate emergency carries an existential threat, but the Minister for Climate has just casually announced that Ireland will miss its emissions reduction target by a massive margin.

"The Government's target has been to reduce emissions by 51 per cent by 2030, but the Minister has now said emissions reductions by 2030 will only be in the mid to high 20 percents.

"This Government has already established a lamentable track record on climate policy, and this is effectively a public announcement that it is giving up on meaningful efforts to achieve the emissions reductions urgently needed.

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"This comes just two months after Taoiseach Micheál Martin spoke at COP30 in Belém in Brazil, where he said: Climate change is no longer a distant threat. It is a daily reality and we are all feeling its consequences.

"At a time when political leadership has never been more vital, there are fewer of us here in Belém, fewer Leaders ready to tell it as it is.

"Climate change is unarguable. The science is undeniable. Temperatures are rising, and the clock is ticking. If we are not prepared to tell our citizens the truth about this, we are failing them, and this planet, in the most profound way

"There is hardly a more illuminating example of the double standards between worthy pronouncements on the world stage followed rapidly by the opposite in action at home.

"2024 was the warmest year on record and for the first time on record global temperatures exceeded 1.5°C above the 1850-1900 average. We are headed towards 2°C warming and beyond. The consequences of that will be catastrophic. But the Irish Government, and many governments around the world, are not just failing but are unwinding the limited progress that had been made.

"This Government has redirected transport spending in favour of road building while public transport infrastructure is in dire need of major capital investment. Most homes still have poor energy ratings because inadequate grants mean people can't afford to retrofit their homes.

"The Government is pressing ahead with plans to build an LNG storage facility at a cost of hundreds of millions of Euros on infrastructure for the dirtiest fossil fuel on the planet. The government defended the nitrates derogation which locks agriculture into a model of high intensity, high carbon emissions farming for years to come that will benefit big dairy farmers and the agrifood industry at the expense of small farmers and the environment.

"The shortfall from the target to reduce emissions by 51 percent by 2030 would mean the State will be liable for fines from the EU of up to €28 billion, and the outlook is going from bad to worse.

"The situation is urgent and radical action is needed now. Immediate steps should include scrapping of Government plans to build new LNG infrastructure. We need a massive increase in investment in free and frequent public transport and a mass free home retrofitting programme. So much time has been lost and we cannot afford any more delays on radical action."

Government sources said Ministers remained committed to Ireland's climate action plan and pointed to recent investments in renewable energy, electric vehicle infrastructure and home energy upgrades, insisting the revised projections reflected the scale of the challenge rather than a retreat from policy.