Mr. Joe Healy:

I am joined today by my colleagues in the IFA, environment chairman, Mr. Thomas Cooney, director general, Mr. Damian McDonald, and executive secretary, Mr. Thomas Ryan.

Ireland has a carbon-efficient model of food production. The European Commission's science and knowledge service, the Joint Research Centre, has confirmed that Ireland's dairy farmers have the lowest carbon footprint for milk in the EU and our beef farmers are among the top five most carbon-efficient. That is important at a time of increasing demand for these types of proteins, produced sustainably by farmers in Ireland. It did not just happen. It is underpinned by our grass-based model of food production.

Ireland is to the fore in targeting CAP funding to address the climate challenge. For example, 87% of the measures in the rural development programme are focused on environmental protection and addressing climate change. The IFA's smart farming programme is run in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA. That has highlighted a climate impact reduction in emissions of 9% and a reduction in costs of €7,000.

The measures included in GLAS and its predecessor, the rural environmental protection scheme, also highlight the work farmers are doing. The schemes promote the retention of soil carbon stocks through the encouragement of climate-friendly agricultural practices such as minimum tillage, green cover establishment and low-emission manure spreading techniques. Almost 50,000 farmers are in the GLAS programme, but it is oversubscribed. I strongly encourage the Government to reopen the scheme to allow maximum participation.

In addition, every one of the 130,000 farmers in receipt of a basic payment under CAP has to meet stringent EU requirements to keep their farms in good condition, including compliance obligations regarding the management of soils, hedgerows, water courses and fertiliser management. Farmers are subject to onerous inspections to ensure adherence to these obligations.

CAP also delivers for consumers, ensuring that the sector provides a secure supply of top-quality safe food, produced to the highest standards at affordable prices. A fully funded CAP budget is critically important for Ireland in respect of its farmers, economy, jobs and consumers, as well as contributing to environmental protection and combating climate change. The IFA has called on the Government, the Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed, to insist that the CAP budget for Ireland is increased to cover the extra costs and to cover inflation. As part of Bord Bia's Origin Green programme, more than 200,000 carbon assessments have been completed. Uniquely, Ireland is the only country in the world that measures, monitors and manages carbon from farm to fork at a national level.

Extra carbon taxes are not the answer. Almost €3 billion has been collected in this country in carbon taxes since 2010. Despite that, national climate emissions have increased. Therefore, the carbon tax has failed to make any environmental difference. Indeed, research work conducted by the ESRI indicates that increasing the annual carbon tax take to more than €1 billion may reduce emissions by just 4.7%. While the Citizens' Assembly suggests ring-fencing carbon taxes, I note the significant reluctance of Departments and agencies such as the ESRI when they addressed the committee on this proposed hypothecation. Regardless, the IFA will continue to oppose the imposition of further carbon taxes on farming. Environmental taxes such as the plastic bag levy worked because there were alternatives.

Carbon taxes on farming represent an additional cost on production with little or no extra benefits. The IFA supports the view of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine on carbon taxes which states that in place of a carbon tax that penalises farmers for failing to meet emissions targets, the application of additional incentives for farmers who sequester carbon may be a more effective approach in delivering change.

This year, Teagasc published 27 measures as part of its analysis. Those measures have the potential to reduce climate emissions by 9 megatonnes. The delivery of this requires intergovernmental and inter-State agency co-operation. It is a solid piece of work that can be a roadmap for the future. The IFA is also seeking a fairer share of the value food chain so we can reinvest in the climate proofing of our farm businesses. After all, it is hard for farmers to be green when they are in the red. In Ireland, this requires the Government to appoint an independent retail regulator and to support fully the European Commissioner's initiative to eliminate unfair trading practices. We are also calling on the Government to back French proposals that aim to eliminate food imports from unsustainable sources such as the Mercosur countries where beef is produced in the Amazon. Greater support for community and farm-scale renewables, including anaerobic digestion, must be put in place. This requires the Government to introduce a guaranteed feed-in tariff model, increased grid access and the development of a regional biomass trade and logistics centre. We will continue to work with the EPA to maximise cost savings and climate improvements in our smart farming programme.

I ask members of the committee to consider carefully the recommendations included in its report and not simply default to the recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly. This is particularly important in light of Ms Justice Laffoy's comments to the committee in September when she stated: "In truth, if we had time we could have had more information on the agricultural sphere and, in particular, on how various parts of the sector are and would be affected." The committee has taken the time and afforded a range of stakeholders, including the IFA, the opportunity to outline the complexity of addressing the climate challenge and to ensure Ireland's carbon-efficient model of food production is not compromised.

As president of the IFA I am proud to stand up for the agrisector, which is Ireland's indigenous sector exporting food, drink and forest products worth in excess of €13.5 billion in 2017 and providing direct or indirect employment to 300,000 people and 130,000 farmers. It has been a key driver in Ireland's economic recovery and it is the backbone of the economic activity throughout rural Ireland. From a carbon efficiency perspective, we are best in class. We seek a more complete and nuanced set of solutions for agriculture that safeguard Ireland's climate-efficient model of food production while providing innovative opportunities for farm families and rural Ireland to climate-proof their futures. We recognise there are challenges for all of us and agriculture is up to that challenge. We ask of the committee that its climate proposals be based on logic and take full account of the potential economic and social impact on farm families and the wider rural community.