Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to get the opportunity to talk on the climate action plan. The first thing I have to mention is the actions of the Germans in the last couple of days with the demolishing of a village and the extension of an open coal mine in Germany. As a farmer in Tipperary, we are all in the one EU. If that happened in this country there would be a huge outcry, and rightly so. We cannot get the climate of the world right. That is going to need the co-operation of all the rest of the countries in the world. I know Germany's energy security has been seriously threatened due to its huge dependence on Russian gas but it is hard to balance this equation with the extension of a very large coal mine in Germany.

Regarding emissions, we are talking all the time about reduction. We have to be positive. I will speak on the agrifood side. There is loads of technology that we can embrace and loads of infrastructure that will allow us to meet the 25% target that has been set. I will mention two of them in the brief time available to me. I met with the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation, ICBF, the other day. It has done extensive work on genotyping of all bovine animals. It will cost a bit of money. To genotype all cows in a herd would cost €40 million to €45 million and each calf would then have to be done each year. This will allow a record to show which animals are the most efficient, whether in the conversion of kilograms of beef or the conversion of kilograms of fat and protein for dairy cows. For a reasonable investment, the ICBF says this could have an impact of a 20% reduction in our emissions. Having more efficient animals, and knowing what animals are the most efficient, has a huge role to play.

The second thing I want to focus on is Lisheen. Lisheen is a site of 1,100 acres on the Tipperary-Kilkenny border. This site has a huge role to play in our circular economy with the proper investment. We have wind energy on that site. There are advanced plans to put in a large solar farm there and there are huge amounts of water available. This is about the waste that is coming from our society, whether from industry or households, and the circular economy. This site in Lisheen has a proper designation and would have a huge amount to deliver to the circular economy and the meeting of our targets.

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