The Government has been called on to establish a National Climate Damage Register to monitor and record the economic, social and environmental impacts of extreme weather events. 

It comes as the Climate Change Advisory Council publishes a review which examines Ireland’s changing climate, projected future changes and the critical need to adapt.

The Council said that the Government must ensure that the funding and necessary supports are in place, underpinned by appropriate legislation, to sustain and improve the national climate observing system.

Eamon Ryan. Picture by: PA Wire/PA Images

Previously, former Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said Ireland must prepare itself for more frequent extreme weather events. 

“We are seeing climate change hit home,” he said after flooding in Midleton, Cork. 

“It is now real intense rain, the likes of which we have never had before, so we have to prepare for it.”

Last year, the UN announced the planet is unlikely to avoid global temperatures rising above 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels .

For each further 0.1°C rise, there will be an increase in extreme weather events.

Main image: Flooding in Midleton, Cork. Picture by: PA Media