The Green Party called for significant changes in Government policies following the publication today of the Environmental Protection Agency's four-yearly report on the state of the environment in Ireland. The Party stated that Kyoto fines alone will cost Irish tax-payers €50m per year from 2008, and that it is time for changes in environmental, energy and transport policy.

Green Party Councillor, Deirdre de Burca said: "Our greenhouse gas emissions are way off target; we're creating more waste than any other country in continental Europe, one third of our rivers are polluted, people are buying larger cars and we're hugely dependent on imported energy. Yet the Government has the audacity to claim that steady progress is being made and welcome the report as 'encouraging.'

"Minister Roche should realise that the Government's environmental policies are creating problems for future years. Instead of blowing most of the national transport budget on roads and building incinerators we need new thinking on environmental issues. The Green Party believes that significant investment must be made in new Luas lines and the Metro in Dublin. We also believe that tightening up energy standards in building regulations would save energy and help us reach our Kyoto targets."

Ireland could lead Europe in renewable energy if sufficient will existed. We are ideally located for power generation from wind, wave and ocean currents and our farmlands and forestry can service a significant portion of our energy requirements. However Minister Roche and his cabinet colleagues seem unwilling to provide fresh thinking or vision on these issues.

"Judging from the EPA's report we will be pushed to the pin of our collar to meet some of our EU targets. That reflects poorly on the Government's policies over the last nine years.

"Like Germany over the last decade, Ireland could be creating thousands of jobs in green industries. Instead we are lagging behind in environmental policies, leaving our economy vulnerable and costing Irish tax payers millions."

Note to editors: Ireland is allowed an increase of 13% in Greenhouse gas emissions over the 1990 base year emissions (55.61 Mt CO2 equivalent) under the terms of Kyoto. In 2004 our emissions were 23.1% above emissions in 1990 (68.46 Mt). If Ireland's emissions remain the same in 2008-2012 we will exceed our limit by over 5 million tonnes of CO2 per year. Carbon is currently trading at over €10 a tonne, and thus fines would cost Ireland over €50m per year.