Ms Edwina Love:

In terms of emission reductions generally, and picking up on the point Deputy Fitzmaurice made earlier, we have tried to communicate the actions we expect farmers to take. The roadmap process that we published a number of years ago, Ag Climatise, was designed to be understandable to farmers, to make the swaps they need to make in terms of fertiliser use and the activities they need to undertake on a farm level very clear. If there is any lack of clarity it is in terms of the impact those measures will collectively have within the period. That is where we look to the future measures that are provided for in Climate Action Plan 2021 and point to those technological solutions that we hope will come on stream and make further emission reductions.

This is a biological system that is very challenging to work with. We have seen that through the inventory refinement process, both on the agricultural side and the LULUCF side. It is very difficult to say at any one point because the science and our understanding of what is happening keep improving. We are trying to tread that path where we need to act soon, implement those changes, make them understandable and implementable for individuals in their farm businesses and, at the same time, keep an eye on the longer-term objectives, the targets that have been set by Government, and achieve them.