Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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This question is for Mr. Callanan.

In order to achieve our 51% reduction, each of the upper ends of the targets has to be met, and for agriculture that is 30%. At the moment, the range is 22% to 30% but there is an acknowledgement that if each of those sectors does not hit that, the 51% reduction will not be met. The EPA’s recent report stated that for agriculture, there is currently only a 20.3% reduction, so even with the additional measures that are outlined in the climate action plan, agriculture will not be meeting even the bottom of that range.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine says the targets are ambitious and that it will be challenging to meet the 22%. First, how does the Department intend to bring it up to the 22% if the current measures are only bringing it up to 20.3%? Second, has the Department done an analysis of how it would reach the higher level of 30%? It states in its submission that it will be impossible or very limited within a stable herd scenario. Has the Department mapped out how the agriculture sector will meet the 30% emissions target and what would that mean within the metrics of the herd?