Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Deputy on the need for urgency and action. The legislation states, “The Minister shall, as soon as may be after a carbon budget takes effect under section 6B, finalise and submit each sectoral emissions ceiling to the Government for approval”, so there is provision within the legislation. I also recognise that, in many instances, scientific information will evolve. That land use review is not starting now and this is halftime, as it were. The first half of it was engaged in building up the evidence, with the EPA and Teagasc having a key role in that. I do not think it is complete because it is an incredibly challenging review. It is charged with, first, optimising the storage of carbon and the reduction in the source of emissions from land use, but it also has to optimise for the protection of biodiversity, the restoration of natural habitats, the restoration of pristine water quality and the reduction in nitrogen and ammonia pollution, as well as greenhouse gas emissions, and, I believe, the prosperous development of rural Ireland.

It is complex because it has to incorporate, as I said earlier, building on what we are already doing. It has to be based very much on the river basin management systems because that is an existing European structure that is central to our environmental habitats protection. It has to help to give us clear direction on forestry policy, rewetting and rewilding projects and how we manage wilderness areas, as well as farmland. It has to help us in the agriculture sector, not by telling any one individual farmer what to do, but in ongoing changes to our support systems, such as the Common Agricultural Policy and other measures, to make sure our land use targets are met.

To give one further example, one of the measures we agreed for the sectoral emissions ceilings this summer was with regard to the development of anaerobic digestion. We have a good assessment of that and we believe 5.8 terrawatt hours is possible. That is also incorporated within the land use review. It has to help us make sure we have the right anaerobic digestion systems in the right place. It is such a massive project and has such huge implications across so many different sectors that I think it will take 18 months.