The Minister for Climate Action and the Environment says Ireland is in a dire position in relation to its 2020 EU emissions targets.
Ireland's greenhouse emissions fell slightly by 0.9% last year when compared to 2016, according to the latest figures from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Transport emissions decreased by 2.4%, while there were also drops in emissions from power generation (6.9% decrease) and households (5.0%).
However, agriculture emissions increased by 2.9% in 2017 - with the EPA highlighting higher dairy cow numbers as the main driver behind the increase.
The organisation is warning that Ireland is still off-track to meet its EU 2020 targets, and that action across all sectors is needed to move towards a low-carbon economy and achieve targets over the coming decades.
Ireland faces fines of €500 million by 2030 if we do not reduce our carbon emissions.
Dr Eimear Cotter, Director of the Office of Environmental Sustainability, said the decrease last year is welcome - especially since the economy is growing.
However, she added: "Some of the underlying drivers of this decrease point to circumstance rather than deliberate action – a fall in cross-border refuelling and warmer weather played a role this year.
"This would raise questions about the longevity and enduring nature of these decreases in future years."
Meanwhile, Minister Richard Bruton says he's looking to implement a cross-departmental plan to address the issue.
Speaking on The Pat Kenny Show, he explained: "Ireland's position is dire - we are 95% off the target which we set for 2020, that we would reduce our carbon emissions by 20%. We will reduce it by 1%.
"Effectively what happened is when the recession was there carbon fell by around 12% in the recession years. But once the recovery started it was clear we had made no structural changes in the economy, and we are seeing us rocket off target."
"We now need a whole of Government plan - so every department will be engaged in formulating a plan that will be cross-Government to address the 2030 deadline."
