Dáil debates

Wednesday, 10 June 2020

Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (Resumed)

 

4:35 pm

Photo of Seán SherlockSeán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It is very interesting to hear Deputy Eamon Ryan, who may be a prospective Tánaiste, giving us a sense of his vision. The potentially continuing or next Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine is also here to listen to that view. I am in no way being facetious about this. The view espoused by Deputy Ryan, possibly soon to be a Minister, is a vision that broadly we would all like to buy into.

It is a picture of an Ireland that existed in the not-too-distant past, when one looks at grassland management, forestry management, land use and all that they entail. We are, however, in a scenario where agriculture is a key component of our economy. We have a particular type of production based on grassland and it has a massive benefit to the economy.

I would like to ask the Minister about the national herd. In the context of climate action the debate around agriculture has been narrowed into the funnel of reducing the national herd. There has been an oversimplification of that argument and it has become the narrative. Some of us want to see a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions but do not want to see the fabric of the rural economy being taken out and ripped to shreds in one fell swoop. I am sure the Minister can understand, as can Deputy Ryan, that there are farm families who rely on beef production. This is because most people are now farming to schemes. An unfortunate outcome of the way we have managed agriculture over the decades is that people farm to schemes and are incentivised to go into a particular scheme because that is from where they derive their income. Somewhere within that discourse there has to be a discussion about how we incentivise those farmers who are, with some degree of justification, suspicious or sceptical about the direction of travel to move towards schemes such as agri-environment schemes and TAMS that will ensure they can continue to manage and produce livestock in a way that is sustainable but does not compromise their membership of a community. In rural communities, on a Friday night, one could have three generations of a farm holding or household sitting in a pub talking to their neighbours about what happened at the mart. We cannot tell them they must stop beef production in one fell swoop. We have to manage a transition towards a future that they are a part of and have ownership of and which does not compromise their ability to produce livestock. There is a happy medium.

I am not a scientist so when I look at Teagasc research I have to interpret what the organisation is trying to say. There seems to be something in its research which, through a pathway of proper land use, schemes and buy-in, allows us to get to the 2030 target. However, certain things have to happen. Farmers need to be part of a discussion and to have ownership of what needs to happen if we are to reach the 2030 target. There is a disparity between the 3.5% climate action plan target and the 6.5% or 7% target that has been bandied around as part of discussions on a programme for Government. This is causing a great deal of confusion and is wrapped up in the narrative that the 7% figure equates to a reduction in the national herd. I do not think that will happen but there needs to be clarity regardless of who is in government. Will our annual emissions reduction target in the climate action plan be 3.5% or will it ramp up to 7%? I am seeking the Minister's perspective on this and to have him enlighten us. If the annual target goes up to 7%, what will be the knock-on effect for farmers, the rural economy and people living in rural Ireland? Will it entail, as it must in my view, the setting in place of schemes that will ensure there is no drastic loss of income and give the individual landowner and farmer a stake in what that future looks like?

Broadly, the question I have for the Minister is whether we will see an increase. All parties here, ironically enough, have bought into the 7% target, because the Joint Committee on Climate Action agreed to that. It is interesting to hear from our friends in Fianna Fáil, who are in opposition now but might soon be sitting at the other side of the House, using opposition rhetoric. I do not speak in a pejorative way about targets and about the reduction of the national herd but they need to be honest about the fact they signed up for these very targets. We need to have honesty in this debate around climate action, because it is a non-partisan and apolitical space and we need to work together on it. I will be interested in hearing the Minister's perspective on how we get from a target of 3.5% to 6.5%, as Deputy Eamon Ryan indicated - or is it 7% or 6% or whatever you are having yourself - because that will have a knock-on effect for agriculture

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