Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am a bit confused. Last week, we were told rewetting wetlands was very uncertain, with estimates from 1 tonne to 10 tonnes. As a result, they struggled with carbon farming development but this week, we are hearing one speaker say that rewetting may have no impact while other speakers say it has major potential. As a result, I am a bit confused. Did I misread the intent of the different evidence?

We heard from different speakers that we should have a target of net zero for all of the greenhouse gases from agriculture land use but we heard from Professor Joosten that we are looking for a 50% reduction in methane and net zero for carbon dioxide. I am getting confused as to what targets we should be setting. It seems we are being given different targets by different speakers. Could the witnesses clarify what the appropriate targets are and whether wetland can deliver for us in a way that would allow us to pay farmers a reliable dividend? We were told last week that we would have great difficulty paying such a dividend.