The Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, has said that the rise in Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions is a result of strong economic growth.
Under the Kyoto agreement the emissions should be falling and environmental activists have said that the rise shows that Government policy must change.
However, speaking on RTÉ Radio’s News At One, Mr Roche told RTÉ News that much of the rise was a consequence of the construction boom and would disappear now that the cement industry has entered the emissions trading market.
Friends of the Environment said a fundamental re-assessment of policy was required, while the Green Party urged Mr Roche to publish the long overdue review of the National Climate Change Strategy.
The report found that Ireland's level of greenhouse gas emissions has increased despite a downward trend over the previous two years.
The study by the Environmental Protection Agency recorded a significant rise in emissions from transport and cement production but a drop in the agriculture and energy sectors.
Ireland's emissions are now more than 10% above the limit set by the Kyoto Protocol.
The Director General of the EPA, Dr Mary Kelly, has expressed disappointment that the modest improvements in the two previous years had not been sustained.
The breakdown of the figures shows that agriculture is the single largest contributor to the overall emissions, at almost 29% of the total.
This is followed by energy (power generation and oil refining) at just over 23% and transport at 17.5%.
New research on icecaps
Separately, new research presented to a scientific conference in the United States suggests that the Greenland icecap is melting faster than previously thought.
Scientists at US universities found the rate of ice lost into the Atlantic Ocean nearly trebled over the past ten years.
They warned that sea levels could rise more quickly than had been predicted. Scientists have repeated warnings that low-lying cities could be at risk of flooding in the long term and policy makers would have to consider how to cope.
