Dáil debates

Thursday, 26 May 2022

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions

Departmental Policies

10:40 am

Photo of Denis NaughtenDenis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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118. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to facilitate farmers trading carbon credits; if he intends to establish a verifiable framework to record and manage net carbon sequestration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27161/22]

Photo of Denis NaughtenDenis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The agriculture sector is facing an emissions reduction target of 30% by 2030 due to the failure by the Government to progress any actions over the past two years to reduce emissions. While plenty of stick is being doled out to farmers to meet these targets, there is not too much carrot. What is being planned to encourage farmers to sequester carbon and get rewarded for it?

Photo of Martin HeydonMartin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. The recent publication of the European Commission's communication, Sustainable Carbon Cycles, has sent a clear signal to European member states on the need to increase the ambition and participation of our land managers in the area of carbon removals and reductions. Under the recently updated all-of-government Climate Action Plan 2021, the Government has committed to “explore the development of a carbon farming model”. This commitment is in recognition of the important role land managers will play in the achievement of our national climate change mitigation targets and the potential to reward these land managers for their additional carbon sequestration activities.

To address this action, officials in my Department have formed the carbon farming working group to examine how an enabling framework for carbon farming can be developed. A key element to future efforts required for a carbon sequestration reward model will be the establishment of national baseline data for a range of activities. To this end, and taking a proactive approach, we have provided core funding for a number of relevant initiatives, such as the establishment of the national agricultural soil carbon observatory, the pilot soil sampling programme and the farm environmental scheme, along with a number of European Innovation Partnership, EIP, research projects based on peat soils.

These national research and demonstration activities will have key learnings for future policy in this area, while also leading to a refinement of data to the national inventory reporting framework for greenhouse gas emissions. The current woodland environmental fund, administered through my Department as part of the national afforestation programme, provides us with a pre-existing model for targeted payments to land managers for their positive environmental activities, which will be of significant benefit to the future roll-out of a dedicated carbon farming incentive to the Irish market.

Our farm families and landowners are key to delivering national climate change targets. In fact, they are taking a real leadership role in meeting our ambitions. Offering farm families the opportunity to derive new income streams from their land is something I am excited about working on. I look forward to working with all stakeholders on innovations such as carbon farming and contributing to the future development of an Irish-specific voluntary carbon market.

Photo of Denis NaughtenDenis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I am afraid not too much excitement was relayed in that response. As the Minister of State knows, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has pointed out that mitigating greenhouse gases alone will not get us to net zero. We need to increase our carbon stocks, and measuring what we have in our soils, hedges and trees is key to that, in addition to improving our soil health and, in turn, storing more carbon in our soil and rewarding farmers. To do this, we need to establish a carbon measuring, reporting and verification process, which has already started in Northern Ireland. Why not here? Why are we still tinkering away at pilots instead of getting on with delivering on this project for the whole country?

Photo of Martin HeydonMartin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The challenge is to have a baseline. We need to have a baseline so we can adequately market in the future the activities of farmers. Should we have been doing this earlier than recent years? Probably. If we had our baseline from five or ten years ago, we would be in a stronger position now, but that is why the investment we are undertaking now is so important. It is critical to have a meaningful carbon farming option and income stream for farmers into the future. That is why our investment in the national agricultural soil carbon observatory, which will be comprised of a network of greenhouse gas measuring flux towers that are a very significant investment on our part, with up to 20 funded by the Department across a range of farm enterprises and soil types, is critical. These sites are managed by Teagasc and will be established on a range of soils, adding value to existing Teagasc projects, including the industry co-funded signpost farms and the agricultural catchments programme. The resulting national agricultural soil carbon observatory will place Ireland at the forefront of EU carbon sequestration research.

Photo of Denis NaughtenDenis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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We will not get a baseline with 20 sites. To get the ball rolling, we need to support a comprehensive carbon soil analysis programme throughout this country. We need to roll out the airborne light detection and radar surveys on our land. Instead of expanding the airborne surveys, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications has suspended its existing programme, but should we be surprised? The Government has net deforestation by felling more trees than it is planting. Farmers and homeowners have not been paid since last June for renewable electricity they are putting onto the grid, even though that right was forced on Ireland. I signed up to it in 2018, despite strong opposition at the time, and people are still not being paid today. Is it any wonder the Government is demanding farmers cut emissions by one third more over the next eight years, as it continues to sit on its hands and talk about pilots?

Photo of Martin HeydonMartin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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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.