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

I did not realise that. The Minister clearly has sectoral responsibility and I would be reluctant to tread on his toes in any way. I might answer the Deputy's question on the coherence of overall Government policy, for which, as climate Minister, I have responsibility. I earlier mentioned the various task forces we have set up. Three of the most significant, and they are the ones that have been set up most recently, are in communications, just transition and land use review. They are all related to this topic.

The just transition task force has been established with Mr. Kieran Mulvey, the just transition commissioner, chairing a group made up of the social partners, including representatives of the farming organisations, as well as ICTU, IBEC, environmental NGOs and social justice organisations. Just transition for Irish agriculture and farming must be central. The task force will be coming forward with recommendations to the Government in the spring, and to the Oireachtas thereafter, for how we legislate and deliver our just transition commission process.

The communications task force is also working. It recognises that we will not deliver the scale of public support required if it is top-down Government messaging that tells people what to do. We should certainly not blame or shame any one sector and tell the people in the sector they are the problem and tell them what needs to be done. The year ahead will be one of detailed engagement within and between communities and sectors as to how they see themselves and their role in this transition. We must recognise that the research shows the vast majority of Irish people want to make this leap.

The third task force, the one most recently established and which has not got much attention, relates to land use review. The land use review was the most important climate element of the programme for Government because our land use emissions are so significant and the relationship with agriculture and forestry is so real. The land use review task force is chaired by Ms Geraldine Tallon, the former Secretary General of the Department of the environment. Professor Mark Scott of UCD is providing a lot of work in the technical working group, building on the work that was done in the past two years by the EPA, Teagasc, and our own Department on the technical aspects. Dr. Rory O'Donnell, former head of NESC, is chairing the engagement part of that task force. We spoke earlier about admitting some of the uncertainty, particularly regarding land use. That provides us with an opportunity to go to the agricultural sector and other sectors, and say that we should work together and not create a divisive environment that pits the Green Party against farmers or environment against agriculture. Let us acknowledge some of the complexities and uncertainties, and work out ways in which we can address and reduce emissions, learn by doing and avail of and pay for the skills that farmers have in terms of how we manage land and make this transition. That is a completely different approach than us telling farmers they are the problem. It is an approach that the likes of the farming organisations and co-operatives are up for. The co-operatives in particular realise that if you are trading as an Origin Green brand but are not Origin Green in reality, you are goosed. The biggest crime in this world today is greenwashing. I think, therefore, that we can sit down and work collectively and build on what has already happened. As I said, the numbers of people going into organic farming has trebled. The use of nitrogen fertilisers has dropped by 25% or 30% in the past two years. That is saving farmers money. Our approach cannot be antagonistic and must be collaborative. We will systematically take that approach. We will look to engage and listen and not just tell people what to do.