Mr. P.J. McCarthy:

On the carbon credits, there is a real opportunity here. In our statement and engagement with the Government, we called for this to be pursued by looking at creating a structure where farmers are rewarded economically but, from an environmental perspective, as mentioned earlier, we deliver on the key performance indicators that we are all pursuing. Under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change guidelines, there are clear opportunities and guidelines around carbon farming. It promotes measurement, reporting and verification, MRV, which is called out in the International Energy Agency document on MRV. That is an important distinction as against using default figures because it presents higher values for those carbon credits. If we are looking at designing a carbon farming model for Ireland, we would implore the public representatives to support the robust approach that will result in a higher value for those carbon credits for farmers. We believe that farmers should be rewarded because ultimately they are the custodians of the land and are central to buy-in on this and to developing at scale. Separately, the Commission has also offered case studies around what carbon farming looks like. There is also further guidance coming in the second quarter of this year. There is already some information around what it would look like, but it is up to each individual member state to structure the carbon farming. We are calling for that to be pursued in favour of rewarding farmers.