The Minister for the Environment has said he will consider the introduction of legislation to ban building on flood plains because of global warming concerns.
Speaking after the publication of the EPA's report on climate change yesterday, Mr Cullen said Ireland would have to "restructure our society and economy" to adapt to and limit the effects of global warming.
He said he was concerned at the continued practice of zoning residential land on flood plains and other areas at risk of flooding. "I will not accept local authorities ignoring climate change and I have issued planning guidelines on building in areas at risk.
"Today's report is a very stark message, we can't go on as before, and I'm certainly looking at the whole area. If I need to introduce legislation to ensure local authorities adhere to planning guidelines on the matter, then I will do so."
The Minister said he also agreed with a recommendation in the report that there should be no development within 100 metres of shorelines at risk of erosion.
The report advises that flooding risks be included in future planning decisions to ensure major residential and commercial developments do not take place on sites at high risk from flooding.
It also recommends against the reclamation of estuary land in the future.
The report has identified coastal areas, including the Liffey estuary, Killiney, Greystones, Co Wicklow, Cork Harbour and Rosslare, Co Wexford, as being at risk from coastal erosion, predicting a rise of at least half a metre in sea levels.
In response to the rising sea level threats, Dublin City Council has commissioned a study on sea level rises and the risk of inundation along the coastline from north Dublin to Sandymount.
Various measures, including a causeway or barrier across the mouth of the Liffey, are also being considered as part of flood-prevention measures.
Mr Cullen also said the Government would accelerate measures aimed at tackling Ireland's growing greenhouse gas problem. Ireland now has the fifth-highest levels of greenhouse gas emissions per capita of population.
Despite commitments to keep emission levels to 13 per cent above 1990 levels, recent research by the EPA suggests levels surpassed 31 per cent above 1990 levels two years ago.
He said global warming was "damaging to society and economy" and Ireland's current emission levels were "simply unsustainable".
"Our target of 13 per cent can only be regarded as a small start," he said. "We must prepare for deeper cuts."
However the Government's commitment to tackling climate changed was questioned by the Green Party leader, Mr Trevor Sargent.
"An obvious example of this is the Government's current investment in roads that is five times that spent on public transport," he said. "Another example is the Government's pro-incineration policy, they must rule out the possibility of incineration to save adding further to our existing CO2 emissions."
