Gormley defends 'economic abyss' phrase

MINISTER FOR the Environment John Gormley has said his predictions that Ireland was “facing into the economic abyss” has come to pass.

Mr Gormley first made the dire forecast following last October’s budget when he defended his decision to support education cutbacks.

Responding to the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) report which revealed the Irish recession will be the worst any industrialised country has faced since the Great Depression, he said he had been accused of exaggerating the situation in the economy.

“Clearly people can see that was not an exaggeration. The Government has been aware for quite some time that we are in a very grave situation. This is not an ordinary recession, it is not a cyclical downturn. It is much deeper and much more profound,” he said at the launch of a carbon calculator for business yesterday.

Mr Gormley confirmed the economic recession has been so severe that Ireland may not have to buy any more carbon credits under the terms of the Kyoto Protocol.

Ireland has been set an emissions target of 62.8 million tonnes of CO2 annually, or 13 per cent above 1990 levels. Until the recession started last year, Ireland’s annual output was closer to 70 million tonnes of CO2.

“I have instructed my officials to contact the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) and tell them to stop purchasing those credits because I do believe our CO2 emissions will be down as a result of the economic downturn,” he said.

The State spent €73.3 million from the start of 2008 to the end of March on carbon credits and has also agreed to buy three million tonnes more.

- The www.change.ie carbon management tool is a follow-on from the carbon calculator for individuals and householders which was released last year. The calculator is available on the change.ie website.