Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The reason we asked specifically about the carbon value of sequestration is that if we are to produce off the other land that we can produce food from and we know we can do it, we are looking for a counter credit argument. Between Bord na Móna and Coillte, there is more than 500,000 ha of land, there is in the order of 2 million ha in pasture production and whatever is in arable production. Deputy Barry would probably have a better idea than I have about that. It could be a couple of hundred thousand hectares. There is a significant percentage of land that is in non-agricultural us and there is potential carbon storage sequestration that should be a mitigating factor for Food Harvest 2020.

The next presentation will be on the sustainable way of achieving that but the main purpose of our meeting is to produce an argument for Ireland's case. Bord na Móna is a key player as we see it.