Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I respectfully disagree with the suggestion the Government is sitting on its hands. We have talked about the national agricultural soil carbon observatory, which is obviously important, and the flux towers in different locations are a key component of that. These will be established through working with the Teagasc signpost programme. We also have the pilot soil sampling programme, which is very important. EIP projects such as the results-based environmental agri pilot and farm payments for ecological and agricultural transitions are locally led, innovative, results-based farm schemes. The results-based element is critical to the changes in how we gather that information. The national soil moisture monitoring network is a very important part of that. It will also involve soil moisture probes and new instruments, known as cosmic ray soil moisture observing systems, being deployed throughout Ireland. These are a number of the measures being taken with a view to us being able to have a viable income for farmers from carbon farming as an additional source of income for their farming enterprises into the future.

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