Greenhouse gas emissions down on 2001

Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions are nearly 10.5 percentage points higher than the target agreed under the 1990 Kyoto protocol.

According to a report published today, during the period 2002-2004 greenhouse gas emissions stood at 123.5 per cent of 1990 levels, although this marked a drop of 3.4 percentage points over 2001 levels.

The Central Statistics Office's report, Measuring Ireland's Progress, 2005, also shows that the percentage of waste landfilled in the State decreased from 79.3 per cent in 2002 to 66.4 per cent in 2004.

Textiles, plastic and organic waste were the materials most likely to be landfilled with over 93 per cent of textile waste, 81 per cent of plastic waste and almost 74 per cent of organic waste disposed of in dumps in 2004.

The report also said that 69.2 per cent of Irish river water is unpolluted, with less than 1 per cent of rivers having seriously polluted water.

The number of private cars per 1,000 population has also risen by more than 100, from 364 to 495, in the last decade. This car ownership rate is lower than the EU average of 555.3 per 1,000.