Statistical Yearbook of Ireland 2019

An environment tax is levied on an activity involving the consumption of a product or service that is known to have a negative impact on the environment; the definition of these taxes is agreed at an international level by Eurostat, the EU Commission, the OECD and the International Energy Agency.

In 2009, estimated environment taxes levied on households were €2.5 billion, representing a 65% share of total environment taxes. In 2018, household environment taxes were €3 billion and represented a 58% share of total environment taxes.

Environment taxes levied on service industries were €1 billion in 2009, representing a 26% share of total environment taxes. In 2018, environment taxes paid by service industries reached €1.5 billion, their highest level and representing a 30% share of total environment taxes. 

In 2009, the percentage share of total environment taxes levied on industry was 8.4% while in 2018 it was 9.5%.

Environment taxes levied on agriculture were €0.03 billion in 2009, representing a 0.7% share of total environment taxes. In 2018, environment taxes levied on agriculture were €0.09 billion and represented a 1.7% share of total environment taxes.

An environmental subsidy or similar transfer is a current or capital transfer that is intended to support activities which protect the environment or reduce the use and extraction of natural resources.

Environmental protection activities aim to prevent or reduce pollution and other negative impacts on the environment. Resource management activities aim to preserve natural resources from over-consumption.

In 2017, €895 million was paid in environmental subsidies and similar transfers to Irish corporations, households and public bodies, as well as to international environmental organisations under Irish government commitments.

This was 31% higher than the amount paid in 2016 but 26% lower than the €1.2 billion provided in 2008.

In 2017, 31% of environmental transfers went to renewable energy production, 26% to wastewater management, 23% to biodiversity protection and 9% to heat and energy saving measures. Other activities, such as climate change mitigation and waste management, accounted for the remaining 10%.

Total greenhouse gas emissions increased by 3.6% to 61.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent from 2015 to 2016.

In 2016, greenhouse gas emissions by the industry sector constituted 34.4% of total greenhouse gas emissions while emissions by the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector were 32.5% of the total.

The household sector was the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases at 21.9% of the total and the remaining 11.1% of emissions originated with the services sector.

The volume of total domestic extraction fell from 153.6 million tonnes in 2007 to 71.8 million tonnes in 2012 before increasing to 84.6 million tonnes in 2016.

The principal component of total domestic extraction is the domestic extraction of non-metallic minerals, which fell from 111.9 million tonnes in 2007 to 30.8 million tonnes in 2012, before rising to 42.1 million tonnes in 2016. This pattern reflects the variation in construction activity over this period.

The remaining components of domestic extraction in 2016 were biomass at 34.0 million tonnes, fossil fuels at 5.8 million tonnes and metallic minerals at 2.6 million tonnes.

A Building Energy Rating (BER) is an indicator of the energy performance of a dwelling (represented in units of kWh/m²/year).

The BER rating scale is divided into categories from G (largest primary energy usage) to an A1 rating (lowest primary energy usage).

Figure 5.5 shows dwellings built in 2015-2019 were considerably more energy efficient than in earlier periods, with 97% given an "A" rating compared with 36% built in 2010-2014 and 1% of those built in 2005-2009.

The mix of energy products used by Irish enterprises in 2016 is given in Figure 5.6.

A kilotonne of oil equivalent (ktoe) is a common unit of measurement which enables quantities of different fuels to be compared and aggregated.

In terms of ktoe, natural gas accounted for 33% of the total ktoe with aviation fuels accounting for a further 24%. Solid fuels comprised another 14% and electricity a further 13%.

In monetary terms the proportion of total fuel purchase costs accounted for by each energy product was quite different than the ktoe distribution. Electricity accounted for 34% of total costs while natural gas comprised 23%.