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

I commend the Deputy on raising this issue. I agree with his final point wholeheartedly.

This is one of the areas where any of us who stand on farmyards can see a glaring opportunity for farmers to contribute positively to our climate action obligations and that they want to play that positive role. I agree with the point that farmers must be able to include and sell excess electricity into the grid.

I will add that we need to ensure farmers are rewarded for the emissions they save as a result of these actions in order that they can be offset in respect of the on-farm emissions liability. The Minister will know I am a strong believer in the need to assess, on a farm-by-farm basis, emissions, sequestration and the capture that takes place on individual farms to reward farmers for best practice. This is one of those areas, but I fear that farmers will not be recognised for the electricity being generated on their farms.

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