Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Callanan and his colleagues for being with us. I do not understand how we get to the point they have outlined unless we have a system whereby every farmer knows, and has an audit of, a baseline in terms of the carbon that is stored on his or her land, the carbon that is being sequestered on an annual basis and the carbon that is being emitted. It is only by having this information that we can put in place a system that rewards those who shift the balance by emitting less and managing to store more. Reading the references to an enabling framework in Mr. Callanan's opening statement and listening to all of the rhetoric about the carbon action plan, with all its lofty and important objectives, I do not know how any of that will be realised in a way that delivers on the rhetoric unless we have such a system. However, I see no plan to put it in place.

My first question, then, is whether it is the Department's intention that we get to that point. In the same way that every farmer knows his or her data on genomics, water quality and land eligibility, farmers should also know what their carbon audit is as a starting point and baseline. I do not understand how people can be rewarded for reducing their emissions or capturing more carbon if we do not have a baseline audit showing where they started.