Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. As part of the climate action plan process, I am in regular contact with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications with regard to establishing pathways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture and land use sector. Measures to reduce emissions from our organic soils form part of the sectoral commitment and a target of 80,000 ha for reduced management intensity by 2030 of grasslands on drained organic soils was included in the climate action plan 2021 land use targets.

I continue to fund, among other initiatives, two locally led European Innovation Partnership projects on reduced management intensity of farmed peatlands operating in the midlands. These projects have been providing lessons learned to scale up innovative actions and measures into larger agri-environment measures. As a result, organic soil grassland measures are included in the new agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, which recently opened for applications and is due to begin in January.

Separately, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is responsible for co-ordinating Ireland’s response to the European Commission’s proposals for a nature restoration law. The proposals set out legally binding targets in the form of a regulation which will have direct effect across a broad range of ecosystem types, both land-based and marine. I continue to engage with my ministerial colleagues in those Departments as this proposed law progresses.

I am aware that farmers and their representatives are concerned about the potential of these proposals but I will work closely with them, as I always have done, to ensure they are fully involved in the discussion and that their voices are fully heard at European level in respect of the proposed regulation.

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