Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Climate Action and Low-Carbon Development Bill, if implemented and carried out to the letter, can make a difference. It needs to be supported in that regard. Measures to alleviate the effects of climate change and to lower our carbon emissions are becoming more urgent and necessary as the years pass. In my constituency of Kerry, we are very aware of the effects of climate change, particularly the storms of early last year, the increase in severity of those storms, and the consequent coastal erosion. This did not happen on my doorstep alone, but across the western seaboard. There were and are examples of severe damage.

The Government, if one excuses the pun, needs to take its head out of the sand on the issue.

There seems to be no strategy for the phenomenon and there is scant provision for it. The Bill provides for a national adaptation framework in two years' time. The problem is that the damage is severe and the frequency of storms is increasing. There are predictions of more high tides. The highest tide in 70 years happened last Saturday night and Sunday. It was only that luck was with us that we did not have a storm as well. If there had been, the consequences could have been disastrous. Consider the damage done last year. With the same type of stormy weather, the consequences last Saturday would have been much worse.

As regards my portfolio, I am concerned that there is a major contradiction between the targets being boasted about by the Minister in terms of our potential for dairy and beef production and our obligations to reduce our carbon emissions. The joint committee on the environment has already recommended the desirability of supporting rain-fed, grass-based agriculture as opposed to more intensive, less sustainable forms of agriculture. This is commendable and makes perfect sense, but in the meantime we must discuss emissions management and consider international best practice on the issue.

Once again, I am calling on the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to stand up for Ireland and defend our way of farming, which is comparatively environmentally friendly. At EU level there should be a trading system whereby our efficient and sustainable farming practices are rewarded with increased emissions quotas. We are moving further in terms of forestry, which is being incentivised. Does this not mean that we should be able to offset some of that ecologically beneficial activity against emissions from our national herd? The proposals of recent months regarding more funding being made available for forestry development are commendable and I support and welcome them fully, but I am concerned that we will be subject to fines due to increasing the herd and that Ireland's unique case is not being considered in the one-size-fits-all approach of Brussels to carbon emissions.

Next week, our milk quotas will be gone and it will be a free-for-all. Farmers all over the State are preparing for this by increasing the size of their herds and their production. That is understandable, as they wish to capitalise on the opportunity and contribute to the recovery of the economy. If we must wait, as this Bill suggests, for a further two and a half years before there is any specific strategy for carbon emissions reduction, we will be in trouble. I stress the importance of moving forward with a strategic approach as soon as possible. I hope that action will be taken. I do not want to see a situation where the farmers of Ireland must take the hit for the heavy industry and transport sectors. The beef and dairy farmers of Ireland are farming comparatively well for the environment and should not suffer a reduction in their herds and the imposition of fines because the Government has not stood up to make their case in Europe.

The importance of the agriculture sector, particularly the dairy sector, in creating jobs, benefiting our economy and helping in the recovery from the depression, recession or whatever one wants to call it is dependent on how we move the sector forward. As such, getting this Bill up and running as soon as possible is important to the country as a whole.

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