Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this opportunity to say a few words on this very important subject. There are, of course, two subjects involved. First, there is the issue of retaining a viable agricultural sector and then, at the same time, there is the issue of meeting international norms in respect of carbon reduction. It is entirely possible for the two to run alongside each other without either being excluded or sacrificed.

The single biggest step we can take on carbon reduction is on generation of electricity from non-fossil fuels. That is as simple as it gets. Other countries have proven that long ago and they have advanced the degree to which they are going down that road rapidly.

The other thing to remember is the fundamental nature of the agri-food business in this country. We do not produce food just for our own population. We produce food for approximately nine times our population. That is very sizeable and will have to be replaced by other food production methods in the event of their being a major reduction in food production in the agri-food sector. There is also an economic issue. The two can be complimentary and can proceed alongside each other and we can achieve the targets we need to achieve.

Reference was made earlier to native deciduous species. I am all in favour of that, but I have to keep in mind that some species have a greater capacity than others to sequester carbon - the sitka spruce and the western red cedar have that capacity. You would need 4,000 acres of native deciduous species for 1,000 acres of spruce to achieve the same results. This is considerable. We also need to be mindful that there will be an impact in this country from Brexit, which will not be positive, and we need to be geared for that and ready to take whatever action is necessary. We must also regard our agri-food sector as the manufacturing sector; it is the engine of our industry and the equivalent of the major heavy industries in other countries throughout Europe and across the globe. We do not have car manufacturing plants or heavy engineering plants or the heavy emissions which come from those plants, but we have the agri-food sector which is deemed to produce a high level of carbon emissions. This can be controlled and modified considerably by dietary change and by various farming methods, and that is being done. We need to get credit for the degree to which we have been able to adopt measures which are conductive to carbon reduction and at the same time allow the industry to continue.

Reference has been made by many people as to the degree to which compensation will compensate for reductions. Beware of that. The beet growing industry should provide a sufficient lesson to remind us that compensation is only for the time being, it does not go on forever. Any resolution we achieve should be more long term.

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