40% of the country's electricity is to be secured through renewable sources by the year 2020, an increase of 7% on the previous target.
The announcement was contained in this year's Carbon Budget, which was presented to the Dáil by Environment Minister John Gormley.
The Green Party leader said that statistics from the Environmental Protection Agency showed that greenhouse gas emissions decreased by more than 1% last year.
However, Mr Gormley said he could not guarentee that the Government's target of reducing emissions by 3% each year would be achieved in 2008.
The Minister said a significant effort to make public transport more appealing was pending.
He said this would include ensuring bus passangers can know what times buses will arrive at individual stops, rather than when they leave the terminus.
On the new motor tax system, which rewards lower-emission vehicles, Mr Gormley said the first three months of the new system showed a strong trend towards the public buying smaller cars.
Emissions from agriculture, the largest emitting sector, have increased, but Minister Gormley said he hoped this would reduce with a longer grazing season.
A leading member of the ESRI has estimated Ireland's emissions jumped by nearly 5% in 2007.
