Results 3,001-3,020 of 24,184 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Beef Sector (5 Dec 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) is the body approved in Ireland in accordance with the relevant EU legislation to conduct testing, genetic evaluation and publication of breeding values for dairy and beef cattle. As part of their remit, I am advised that ICBF have recently updated breeding indices, the first major update since 2015, based predominately on changing economic drivers...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (5 Dec 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: As outlined previously in Parliamentary Questions Nos 121 and 122 of 29 November 2023 owners of ash forests affected by ash dieback are treated as a special case and my Department has allowed, on a case by case basis, and in accordance with my Departments document ‘Felling and Reforestation Policy (2017)’, the conversion of ash forests devastated by ash dieback to be replanted...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: Provisional estimates of emissions from agriculture last year were 23.3 MtCO2eq and were 1.2% lower than in 2021. We are seeing progress. Admittedly, it is slow but it is building. We are below our 2018 baseline, which we have to reduce by 25% by 2030. Many of the measures that we are taking though are measures which will build and continuing to deliver and gather momentum over the next...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: Like every other Department, we have ground to make up and we need to see the measures that we are adopting help to achieve that. It is challenging to meet those targets but every effort is being made through the different schemes and policies we are putting in place to move in that direction. I suppose, like every other sector of the economy, these are big tanks to turn. Progress builds...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: It is a similar reduction to 2018. There have been some small reductions and then, the year before last, there was a slight increase. We are now approximately 1.2% or 1.3% below 2018.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: By 2030.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: By 2030.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: The assistant secretary tells me that diversification was not included in those figures and we strongly believe that over the course of this decade, we will see an uptake in diversification. Anaerobic digestion, in particular, has significant potential in providing diversification opportunities not only with regard to income but also with regard to land use, which can add to that as well.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: It is because we have not made significant progress on them so far for the EPA to say that it can with authority include them as measures that will produce outcomes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: Forestry is an area where we feel there is potential. We have announced a new forestry programme in the past few months. It is to significantly change the incentives for farmers to take that up. We hope we will see progress on that. One of the other key diversification opportunities is AD, the strategy for which will be published this quarter. We want to see that lead to more AD...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: It is still under consideration. It is one of the steps that remain to be considered fully.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: Models have been looked at as to how such a scheme could work, were we go ahead and step it out. I have been engaging with stakeholders throughout the agriculture sector as regards the place a reduction scheme might play. There is very considerable opposition among farmers and throughout the food supply chain to the introduction of such a scheme. There are lots of measures which we are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: It continues to be under consideration. Overall, when we look at the agrifood sector, and when I look at it myself, our objective is to continue to produce food and to maintain food production but to reduce the emissions-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: No.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: That is still under consideration. It will not be published this quarter. I will continue to engage with stakeholders on it but there is no certainty at the moment, pending that further engagement, as to timelines.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: Across the various ranges of the steps we are taking, we are stepping them out. The challenge around this particular one is that it could potentially have an impact on food production, which has a detrimental output.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: We do.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Charlie McConalogue: Our capacity to produce food is a valuable thing that farmers do and something I want to see continue. I do not want to see our capacity to produce food diminish. In fact, anywhere that can produce food will need to produce more of it in the years ahead.