Carbon taxes on fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal could reach up to €265 per tonne in the next 30 years, Climate Action Minister Richard Bruton has warned.

Food and farming bodies have defended their role in climate action and warned it is simplistic to talk of slashing herd numbers or swapping pasture for tillage.

Environment groups say the declaration of a climate emergency could be an important turning point.

The frequent storms and floods hitting Ireland are linked to global warming, according to the Climate Action Minister Denis Naughten said.

Almost 700,000 households will have to get rid of oil-fired central heating systems to help meet the country’s climate change commitments — but a new grants scheme for conversion to clean energy will only scratch the surface, leaving homeowners facing costs of thousands of euro.

Ireland is set to travel a bumpy — and very expensive — road in the journey to meet its clean energy and carbon emission reduction targets, writes Kyran Fitzgerald

Raising taxes on petrol, diesel, and home-heating fuels, plus a complete ban on the burning of coal and peat, are urgently needed to help cut carbon emissions, the Climate Change Advisory Council has warned.

The Government is set to pay for victims of the Christmas 2015 floods whose properties remain at risk of being badly damaged again to move homes under a once-off multi-million euro housing relocation scheme.