Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Deputy raising this matter. I agree with his assertion that it is possible to achieve both goals of maintaining a sustainable agrifood sector and achieving very ambitious carbon reductions.

The programme for Government contains a commitment to an annual average 7% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to 2030, representing a 51% reduction over the decade. To meet these ambitions, we must reduce the level of carbon emissions across all sectors of our economy, including in the agrifood sector. Irish agriculture has a positive international reputation in terms of producing high-quality, sustainable produce. We need to maintain that reputation. This will not be possible if emissions from the sector continue to increase. We also know from the Environmental Protection Agency's State of the Environment report that much needs to be done to protect our water, our air and our biodiversity.

The Government is committed to finding the balance between environmental, climate and biodiversity needs, and supports for the farming and agrifood industries. My Department is currently preparing the climate action plan 2021, which will identify the measures necessary to meet the programme for Government commitment in respect of carbon emissions. In the 2021 climate action plan, far-reaching policy changes will be deployed across every sector, which will set us on the path of systemic change that is required for Ireland to become a climateneutral and climate-resilient society and economy by 2050 at the very latest.

In the agrifood sector, we need to focus on a number of key areas. First, we must support and help our farmers to continue to roll out improvements in farming practices, an area in which Ireland is already among the leading countries. This will make sense fromboth a consumer point of view and from a financial perspective, because higher efficiency often means less cost. Second, we need to create a policy framework to enable farmers to make choices to avail of new diversification business opportunities in areas like forestry, the bio-economy and organic farming. In the programme for Government, there is a commitment to allocate €1.5 billion to a REPS 2 programme to encourage and incentivise farmers to farm in a greener and more sustainable way. It will include incentives to plant native forestry, and to enhance and support biodiversity. Third, we need to focus on gathering an evidence basis to support policy design in the area of land use. Ireland is currently a net emitter of emissions from our lands. We need to reverse that trend and reward farmers for doing so.

As well as developing the next climate action plan, my Department and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine are evaluating the potential climate contributions from land use improvements, to develop a land-use strategy. Land use offers significant potential to sequester additional carbon and may provide a new source of family farm income and rural economic benefit.

With the correct policy choices in the agrifood sector, we can reward farmers for sequestering carbon, restoring biodiversity, producing clean energy and improving water and air quality while remaining profitable and competitive. This will offer opportunities to innovative enterprises which are sustainable in the long term for Ireland and its workers. It will also cement our position as a producer of sustainable food produce.

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