Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the delegates for their very comprehensive presentations. I apologise in advance as I will have to leave a little early. This discussion is timely. A number of the delegates were also before the Joint Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment recently to discuss the same topic.

There is no doubt that climate change and our carbon footprint will be key considerations of agriculture policy in the future and that we have to be particularly proactive about them. At the same time, we must allow the agriculture sector to grow and meet the targets set. The delegates have touched on the key policy objectives and initiatives that they believe will be necessary to aid the achievement of our objectives and ensure agriculture will be able to contribute more in energy generation, in particular.

The international objectives can be quite blunt in the way they are imposed, as a number of delegates indicated. Ireland's is very much a carbon-friendly agriculture sector. Internationally, it is results-based in terms of how carbon-friendly are different types of production. We do not want to have a scenario where Irish agriculture has to cut down production, while other countries do not and could potentially increase it. We are unique because the agriculture sector here plays such a big part in the economy and also creates such a high proportion of our emissions, at around 30%. Only in New Zealand does agriculture contribute a higher proportion of overall emissions. From the delegates' engagement with their international counterparts, do they believe we can make more progress in gaining better recognition of the position of Irish agriculture in global production? Might we, therefore, be allowed to continue to maintain that potential? Might we receive credit for being able to increase our production, given the fact that the sector here is particularly carbon-friendly and, therefore, able to contribute to the overall reduction of the carbon footprint?

On the role of forestry, it was outlined how we were not meeting our targets and that we were a long way from doing so. We would have to move from 11% forest cover to 18% in 2050. In particular, I highlight the resistance in some counties where forestry is happening on a larger scale. There is a difficulty in that it is too heavy in some areas and perhaps not being taken up as much in others. Are there particular initiatives the delegates believe could be taken to try to speak to this and ensure farmers will embrace forestry alongside their other farming enterprises?

On the potential to improve our grassland model of production and try to ensure it will be efficient, a couple of speakers mentioned that just 10% of our soil is at the optimum pH level. What initiatives could be taken promptly to address that issue and, in so doing, make agricultural production a lot more carbon efficient? What do the delegates believe we could do to ensure farmers will make quick progress?