Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 12 December 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed)

12:30 pm

Photo of Ian MarshallIan Marshall (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will begin by referring to Deputy Stanley's comments. With regard to Northern Ireland and Protestants cutting hedges, I would like to make it clear that one's religion is probably not a sign of one's predisposition towards being environmentally responsible or irresponsible. It may be a reference to the fact that Protestants have a tendency to cut their hedges around the 12th fortnight. I hope that is what he was implying.

I echo Senator Paul Daly's comments about the Citizens' Assembly. I have concerns that agriculture was underrepresented in that and that we need to revisit it. It is good to hear the contributions here today and the fact that a strong lobbying exercise is being done to say that agriculture is a critical industry for Ireland and it will have a role to play in this. I do not want to repeat everything but obviously agriculture has delivered on efficiencies, which has been well-proven and documented. There was a reference in an earlier meeting today about a successful venture, the taxation of plastic bags. It changed behaviour and delivered. My concern when one looks at taxation of farmers and primary production can be seen in the analogy drawn with the plastic bags tax, which was applied at supermarkets and was paid for by consumers. My problem with the carbon tax on agriculture is that the farmer cannot pass that on or recover it from the marketplace. It resides with the farmer as a cost he or she will bear.

Before he left, Mr. Pat McCormack from the ICMSA referred to sustainability. We have all discussed environmental sustainability at length today. We all know what is economic sustainability. If it is not profitable, there will not be an industry. I do not think we pay enough attention to social sustainability, which is about the creation and vibrancy of rural villages, towns, schools, shops, post offices and Gaelic football clubs, all of which are dependent on strong, profitable agricultural structures. A number of references have been made in the committee to the importance of agriculture in the Irish economy, but it is disadvantaged by this headline figure of its percentage impact or contribution to the emissions discussion. New Zealand was referred to as an economy that is similarly heavily dependent on agriculture and is disadvantaged. I do not think we have recognised the contribution we have made with regard to ammonia. Every 1% by which we have reduced protein in our animal feeds reduces ammonia by 10%. The intensive sector reduced ammonia output by 30%. If we consider these things and the reference made earlier by Deputy Ryan to the possibility of paying farmers for a positive contribution, in the opinion of the different representatives, what is the possibility of farmers being paid for carbon credits for delivering benefits to society? Mr. Thomas Ryan referred to there being 200,000 farm audits. Are enough data and information emerging that we could be in a position to pay farmers carbon credits for positive delivery?

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