Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. The EU's discussions on how we will meet our emissions targets for 2030 represent a big challenge for Irish agriculture. This represents a key issue for the Minister's Department in the coming years and for the Irish team negotiating with their European counterparts.

Outside New Zealand, Ireland has the largest proportion of emissions in the world coming from agriculture. One third of all Irish emissions are from agriculture, whereas the average figure across Europe is 10%. Any issues, therefore, concerning emissions targets for agriculture which are debated at European level are much more challenging for us than for anywhere else.

It is crucial for the Minister to note, and our negotiators must be strong on this point, that the production of agricultural produce in Ireland is much more energy and carbon efficient than elsewhere. On average, it is about one third less. A key point in these negotiations is to ensure that when it comes to setting technical targets for methane and ammonia, a false economy is not brought into play by setting high targets. That would mean that other countries would end up producing more agriculture which is less carbon efficient, while the pressure is on Ireland.

I ask the Minister to comment further on what he expects and how confident he is that agriculture will be protected in these negotiations.

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