Significant funding could be made available to help Ireland achieve climate goals, Finance Minister states

THE Finance Minister has indicated that significant additional funding to help Ireland achieve its climate goals could be forthcoming.

Michael McGrath made the comments while speaking to reporters in Cork on Monday.

Asked by The Echo if the Government would give consideration to Cork Chamber’s appeal in its pre-budget submission calling for a dedicated fund for climate neutral cities to help them achieve their climate goals, Mr McGrath indicated that it would.

“We already have a very large public capital programme in our National Development Plan.

“Next year we will have over €13bn available for a whole range of public capital projects, including in transport, the built environment, in investing in our urban communities including our cities.

“What we decided in the Summer Economic Statement was that we would provide additional capital funding from windfall corporation tax receipts.

“Next year that will be €250m and in the Budget we will lay out how that money is going to be allocated across the different departments but then, as part of the overall plan to manage the public finances, we have signalled that we will be setting up a savings vehicle - a Sovereign Wealth Fund - but in addition we will have a public investment fund to make sure that we can sustain high levels of public capital investment, including in times of an economic downturn or if an economic shock were to visit Ireland again.

“And so, I think as part of that there will certainly be a very significant element focussing on climate, on sustainability and investing in our urban centres, so I will certainly be examining that issue with my colleagues,” he said.

As part of its detailed Budget 2024 submission, Cork Chamber called for additional and specific investment to establish a dedicated fund to enable Cork’s 2030 climate neutrality journey.

Both Cork and Dublin have been designated as EU mission cities, and the chamber has stated that defined financial support would help with achieving these targets.

“A specific fund for climate neutral cities would not only assist in achieving climate targets but would also have benefits in many other areas outlined in our pre-budget submission,” Cork Chamber president, Ronan Murray, said.

“The benefits of such a fund would also be felt in areas such as infrastructure, public transport, energy and housing which all require sustainable solutions not only from a climate change perspective, but also to further propel our city forward and to increase its attractiveness from an FDI and talent perspective.”