Eamon Ryan has said he has no plans to follow Leo Varadkar out of politics – insisting that he is determined to continue the fight against climate change.

The outgoing Taoiseach announced his resignation just over a week ago saying he no longer felt he was the man to lead the Government and Fine Gael forward.

He said his reasons for resigning are “both personal and political” – and has since insisted there is no looming scandal behind his decision.

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan rejected the idea that Mr Varadkar was stepping away because the toxicity of modern politics had left him ‘burnt out’.

“I think it's a very healthy thing to do in politics,” he said.

“It's a kind of a rational assessment and he'd always said this, that you know, he wouldn't be in politics beyond the age of 50.

“My sense is that's not a bad reflection on Irish politics.

“It is actually a sense of rationality, a saneness in Irish politics - 'It's not all about me; it's not all about me having to be there forever and a day'.

“I thought it was quite a healthy [move].”

Toxicity

Asked whether the toxicity of social media takes its toll on politicians, Minister Ryan said: “I think it's having a toll on all our health.”

“I think some of the nasty stuff you get on social media diminishes us all, not just politicians,” he said.

When it was put to him that he deals with more than his fair share of social media abuse, he said: “Yeah, I know I do, but sure listen, you need a thick skin in politics.”

"The world is burning"

He said he has no plans to follow Mr Varadkar out of politics.

“The world is burning,” he said.

“I'm absolutely determined that we do everything we can to try and avoid that and that does drive the Green Party, myself included, to make the changes we need to make.”

'Moving together'

Minister Ryan was speaking after Cabinet approved his new ‘Moving Together’ transport strategy, which aims to reduce car dependency and congestion while scaling up public transport, active travel and the use of electric vehicles.

Among the 35 proposals in the strategy are higher parking fees, carpooling incentives and moves towards congestion charges.

The strategy does not contain “any prescriptive actions” and instead sets out potential options local authorities could introduce in the coming years.

It is due to go out for a three-month public consultation in April.

Minister Ryan said the strategy is not anti-motorist – insisting that it aims to tackle gridlock in our cities so that the roads work better for everyone.

He said there was nothing “inevitable” in the plan, with local authorities continuing to have the flexibility to introduce measures as they see fit.

Public transport

He said it would be underpinned by “massive investment in new public transport and walking and cycling infrastructure” right across the country.

“We've seen huge increase in rural public transport, which has been hugely popular,” he said.

“We're about to do the same with BusConnects projects in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Waterford, Limerick and major investments in our rail infrastructure.

“All of that is going to be transformative and that does have to come first.”

The proposals also include plans for higher taxes on larger cars like SUVs; however, Minister Ryan said electric vehicles would continue to be incentivised.