Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine held a number of informative hearings on these issues because it is an area in which we all will admit that we are still learning. I asked this specific question regarding the baseline studies as to whether it is possible to carry out a farm-by-farm analysis and audit so each farmer would have a clear view of what sequestration, storage and emission is taking place on his or her farm and the farmer can then trade or be rewarded for improvements in that regard. Essentially, the response from the Department's officials and Teagasc was that this would prove to be incredibly difficult and challenging. We accept that. The Devenish Global Innovation Centre in County Meath indicated that it was very doable if there was the political will.

The value of having something like this can be seen. The issue we need to overcome is the viability of being able to do it in the short term. Farmers are today carrying out measures to reduce emissions, but we need to ensure that is recognised, not only this year but in years to come.

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