Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is a very fair question. Applying a 20% reduction target does not mean that we apply 20% reduction across each sector.

Some sectors have more capacity than others to reduce emissions. It is true that other sectors will have to do more than 20%, because I believe agriculture does not have the capacity to achieve those numbers.

That said, agriculture will play its part, and I am determined that it will. It is already playing its part, but the targets I am setting for agriculture are related to the emissions intensity of what we do. If Ireland is producing milk at the lowest carbon footprint in the world relative to other countries, does it make sense, in terms of a global climate change challenge, for the country that is doing the best job in producing milk at a low emissions intensity to reduce its herd size and produce less to allow other countries, that are producing at a higher emissions intensity, to produce more? The markets are going to demand more anyway. The point we have been making at European level, both throughout the CAP process and since then, is that we must combine the joint challenges of a responsible approach towards climate change in terms of mitigation and adaptation to climate change challenges while at the same time responding to global food security issues.

I hope Ireland will set the global benchmark for how to produce food at a low emissions intensity. We will use science, innovation, breeding and grazing programmes, feed conversion efficiency management and all the other elements we are applying on Irish farms. In addition, we will audit and measure the performance on our farms. Every farming organisation in the country has signed up to all dairy farms in the country having a sustainability audit system on farms. Currently, we are measuring the greenhouse gas emissions from the herds on 48,000 beef farms. Ireland is the only country in the world doing this. Anyone who suggests that I, the Government and Ireland are not taking emissions from the agricultural sector seriously does not understand what we are doing. What I will not do is reduce herd size, when we have a good emissions record, to facilitate blunt targets that only apply to Ireland.

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