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

Over the weekend, journalists were critiquing Opposition Deputies because some of us would not specify a specific percentage figure for the sectoral ceiling for agriculture. I hope those journalists are watching today and understand that the information Mr. Kierans has been talking about, which is being used by his Department, has not been made available. We have sought copies of the reports that have been used, information on the consultants that have been availed of and publication of the modelling and economic analysis the Department has. It has not provided that at all. I had hoped today would be an opportunity for us to get additional information. Instead, we have a two-page opening statement from the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications that provides precisely zero additional information and makes it impossible for us as a committee to have a considered opinion on what could be the defining issue of the sector we are charged with monitoring. All of that needs to be taken in the context of the challenges ahead.

In all the consultations Mr. Kierans referred to, he missed an important one, namely, the Oireachtas, Members of which are elected by the people of this State who will be impacted by this. They have been watching on their TV screens as the extreme weather across the globe has made it very clear that climate action measures are required now. Alongside that, the war in Ukraine and other global events have crystallised the need for this debate to be taken in the context of food security. The ability to produce food sustainably is also going to be a crucial issue facing humanity in the time ahead. We need a sea change in how we address this because this State has never met any of the climate action targets that have been in place to date. We are now facing into an even more ambitious scenario with no roadmap as to how to achieve it. Ireland will become the best country in the world at setting ambitious targets but the worst country at actually reaching them because the targets are being set without a baseline plan.

I have a few questions for the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and then I will come back to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Does the Department accept that if we are going to make progress in our climate action measures, we need to work collectively? In that vein, does the Department accept that it was a mistake for the Government to reject the proposal that the sectoral ceilings be brought back to the Oireachtas for consideration? That is the approach in the North and in many other EU member states where there is a full collaborative political approach to dealing with these issues.

I ask the Department to comment on the failures to date in respect of forestry. It is very likely that this year will see the lowest level of afforestation in this State since the 1940s, in the middle of the Second World War. That is going to impact across a raft of areas. This is happening under a Green Party Minister. What implications will that and the failure to reach other targets, which have been in place for a number of years now, have for our long-term ambitions?

What consideration is the Department giving to the potential for carbon leakage in its proposals for the sectoral ceilings? What if we take measures in this State that reduce our national emissions but actually increase global emissions? Is that a factor? What consideration is the Department giving to food security? What measures does the Department consider necessary, on a point-by-point basis from 22% to 30%, for agriculture to reach those targets if they were set?