Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Healy and Mr. Dillon for attending. I appreciate their contribution. Mr. Healy said in his presentation that grassland is not a currently accepted mode of carbon sequestration for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Control, IPCC. From my understanding, Ireland reports all emissions and sequestration to the IPCC, including from grassland. The emissions sequestration must be accounted for in our 2030 EU non-traded sector targets as part of the EU nationally determined contribution to the Paris Agreement. I would welcome a comment from him on that point.

The committee has heard from a range of sources about the importance of farmers getting the right incentives to reduce emissions. The submission referred to the same theme, namely, seeking to link payments to outcomes. What proposals do the witnesses have on how to make this happen in the overall sense?

Following on from what Deputy Eamon Ryan said about New Zealand, have the witnesses looked at what is happening there with regard to the inclusion of agriculture in their emissions trading scheme? Given the economic challenges faced by beef producers, what are the views of the witnesses on the recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly that we should support diversification?

What is the view of the witnesses, as young farmers and, as they said themselves, as environmentalists, on diversification? What diversification mechanisms do they envisage for the young farmer in the future? How can we expand our range and do things better? Ireland is an island nation. It is a great country for growing crops. We should always look for a premium price because of the quality of what we can potentially produce. I would welcome some comments on what is envisaged in terms of diversification.