Fine Gael have promised that a third of money raised from carbon taxes will be ringfenced for insulating old homes.

The country is “completely off course” in its efforts to meet climate change goals, and the gulf between these targets and Ireland’s carbon emissions is growing year on year, according to a scathing report by the State’s climate change watchdog.

The opening of the summit on climate change in Copenhagen has been told that a deal is "within reach".