Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

If we park that for now and look at what is going on in the world, and consider a holistic approach to agriculture, factoring in the environmental costs, then the only conclusion that could be drawn is that we need to take an entirely different approach, instead of responding systematically to short-term interests and being motivated by farmers' incomes - which are important but are not the only issue - regardless of the environmental costs. We have a serious problem, because what is necessary in this country is quite a radical restructuring of the way in which we farm.

The outcomes of the latest meeting include Ireland's being allowed to continue to ramp up its milk production, which the Minister is obviously delighted about, but it fails to take into account that ramping up beef and milk production has serious consequences for the climate. Milk output is expected to increase from 5 billion litres to 8.5 billion litres by 2020. The Minister is on the record as saying that this means exporting an extra €1 billion worth of milk. It means increasing the herd size by between 300,000 and 400,000 cows, which, Deputy Coveney stated, will make Ireland the fastest-growing dairy producer on the planet for the next five years and, he went on to state, probably the next ten years. This is not good, and I do not say that lightly. I say it, actually, in a thoughtful manner. Ireland's 1.1 million cows produce huge amounts of methane, as well as nitrous oxide, another powerful greenhouse gas. Methane, as the Minister will be aware, is 20 times worse, as a driver of climate change, than carbon dioxide over 100 years. Ireland's agricultural sector accounts for one third of national greenhouse gas emissions. That is three times the EU average, or, in the words of the Department, the highest proportion of any country in the developed world. It is simply unsustainable.

The Minister told us in November 2014 that planning a boom in dairy and beef exports by increasing the size of the herd could be done while maintaining the existing carbon footprint of the agricultural sector. He was wrong in that regard. It is not true. That is not what happened. Agricultural emissions, which already make up 30% of Ireland's total, are expected to grow by a further 12%, according to the EPA, thanks to the impact of Food Harvest 2020 and the removal of milk quotas. That is an unthinkable increase in the context of the Paris agreement and the absolutely dire need that Ireland has now to cut its emissions. We have spoken about it here previously.

Ireland is an emissions disaster. On a per capitabasis, we currently emit 75% more greenhouse gases than China. We are the second worst per capitapolluter in Europe, after Poland. The total greenhouse emissions from Ireland-----

See this speech in context