Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 2 March 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Photo of Alice-Mary HigginsAlice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It will be good to get the figures for emissions from burning. I think they certainly should be reflected. It is clear that new measures are needed related to that. I am surprised that it did not seem to be addressed in the Food Vision 2030 report, not on dairy, but on beef and sheep. That would include addressing the use of uplands in this particular way. We know there are other mechanisms that can be used, such as grubbing gorse.

I have three questions which have been touched on before. I was not planning to address the first matter but it is important to say that there is a clear climate-related reason for raising issues such as the import of tillage, forage and fodder crops and the export of powdered milk. Ireland is part of the global move to tackle climate change. Some 80% of agricultural land is used for livestock, which produces only 20% of the world's calories and nutrition. Ireland needs to look at that responsibly. At a time of food crisis globally, Ireland contributing to the pressure on global land being used for fodder rather than food, with a higher nutrition output, seems to be deeply irresponsible. We are also responsible for 13% of infant formula worldwide. It is a very high figure which is extremely relevant to policies if we have a Government that claims that it cares about women's and children's health internationally. It contradicts those policies and we are subsidising it with the subsidy system that we have. It is worth answering. Rather than throwing remarks at other parties, I ask the Government to really look at how it is addressing that contradiction and how we can be morally consistent.

It is also important that we look at this idea that we are asking for a huge change to the herd. There has been a huge change. From 2010 to 2020, in one decade, we saw a 46% increase in the dairy herd, which is massive. The majority of the increase that we are seeing is happening on a tiny fraction of farms. I think just 1,500 farms were identified in the recent report as being responsible for 50% of the increase. We have had a massive change in that expansion. Surely we should aim for a similar reduction by pulling back by 50% and looking at how that would be done? That is not necessarily about a cull but about looking at the intensification of breeding. What measures are there?

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