St Patricks Festival is great for tourism, pity about the GHG emissions [Video]

The Department of Public Expenditure’s report on the climate impact of government spending has produced some surprising findings, writes Ed Micheau.

As Ireland progresses on the objective of transition to a carbon neutral and circular economy over the next three decades, the funding of this wholesale transformation of society is a crucial component to its success and for its highly ambitious targets to be met on time.

In Budget 2024, a new Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund was announced, which will have €14bn to invest in projects by 2030, of which €3bn will be dedicated to climate and nature projects.

In addition, €780m was allocated in Budget 2024 to spend in the current year on climate action measures, a €165m increase on the amount funded from the carbon tax increases last year.

These are global figures for the entire economy and state. But what of the annual spending by government departments?

Since 2019, the Department of Public Expenditure…