Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I confess that I did not quite grasp the level of achievement by the Irish agriculture sector until I was appointed as Minister. It is not widely understood that we are the most carbon-efficient producer of milk, bar none. In addition, through the beef data and genomics programme we are targeting the beef sector to lighten its carbon footprint.

Deputy McConalogue said that agriculture accounts for 30% of our carbon emissions, while the figure is 10% across the rest of the EU. That is factually correct but in a sense he is comparing apples with oranges, as I am sure he will appreciate. This is the message we must sell to the European Commission. We never had the industrial revolution here, so we do not have a history of heavy industry. However, we do have the most carbon-efficient industrial sector inside the farm gate. We are involved in measuring the carbon footprint of every individual farmer in the country. We have to sell that message and get it across forcibly.

I salute what has been achieved to date by the farming community. We are not seeking special exemptions because most of the required efforts are cost-reduction measures. The key is the Council conclusions which said that there is a limit to what agriculture can achieve in terms of reducing the burden of its carbon footprint.

However, we also must have sustainable food production practices. Given the growing population, there will be 9 billion people to feed by 2050. Is it not far better to have food produced in an intensive way here, with a low carbon footprint, rather than having carbon leakage from across the seas with beef coming in from South America, for example? These are the salient matters we must convey in that debate.

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