Mr. Oisín Coghlan:

I do not want to go deep into this now. It is worth acknowledging that, until recently, agricultural emissions had not risen in the same way as transport emissions, nor had they fallen in the same way as electricity emissions.

On the other hand, they have started to rise significantly in recent years since the expansion of the dairy herd took hold with the removal of quotas. The issue now is that we have this collective target and obligation to reduce total emissions by 50%.

A specific point I did not get to make earlier but that is in our written submission is that if the committee and the Dáil accept the overall carbon budget, then, as members are aware, the next step will be for the Government to divide up that emissions cake or pollution pie. It has provided indicative emissions ranges for each sector. Contrary to how the public may be presenting it, and certainly contrary how the IFA is presenting it, the agriculture sector is not being scapegoated. The plan is to give the agriculture sector the least demanding emissions reduction cuts, of between 22% and 30%, compared with between 70% and 80% in electricity and, if memory serves, approximately between 45% and 55%, or around the average, for the other sectors. What is worth noting in respect of those emissions reductions is that according to the calculations done by Dr. Hannah Daly, who appeared before the committee on Tuesday, it is only if every sector hits the more demanding end of those emissions reduction ranges that we will meet 51%. They are not really ranges; they are just an indication of how far the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications has got in extracting proportionate commitments commensurate with the overall target from the individual line Departments for the sectors. Basically the easier end of those ranges will not do. All sectors will have to hit the higher end if we are to meet the overall target. Every tonne that is not done by one sector will have to be done by another sector. The cake will be set by the process.