Results 3,021-3,040 of 24,184 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

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

Charlie McConalogue: We continue to invest in research as well, and there is significant-----

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

Charlie McConalogue: Not necessarily. Research is evolving very quickly here. We are conducting significant research at the moment as regards the capacity for feed additives to significantly reduce methane emissions. For example, the research which has been conducted can show in-house systems that can potentially reduce methane by up to 30%. Obviously, we are mostly pasture-based. That is being considered as...

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

Charlie McConalogue: If Deputy Whitmore had been following my approach and my engagement across the agriculture sector closely, she would see that at all times I am honest about the challenges we have and what we have to do. I have been honest in the answer I have given her today as well as to where this particular proposal stands. I have been honest as well and provided solid leadership and clarity throughout...

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

Charlie McConalogue: -----given its land area. It is likewise in many other parts of the world. We must also be honest about the importance and the challenge coming down the tracks due to population growth and the fact countries that can must produce food. The challenge for all of us is to produce that food to the best of our capacity and productivity while reducing the emissions footprint of how we produce it...

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

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Cathaoirleach. Going back to dairying and whether that produces the food developing countries need, many products come out of our dairy sector. There is no doubt the food is very nutritious and a very worthwhile part of a balanced diet. It is a strong part of our diet, but also something that can really add to nutrition in many parts of the world. For example, I was in Nigeria...

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

Charlie McConalogue: We have ground to make up. We are no different from any other sector in that. Indeed, some sectors are even further behind. We are making progress, but we have ground to make up.

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

Charlie McConalogue: It can be. Making it up in the short term is a big ask, but there is capacity for the measures we are putting in place to build momentum. We will see that momentum building in agriculture, as it has to. It was good to see farmers’ work, which is still ongoing, starting to show real results in terms of last year’s reduction in emissions. Consider the significant change in...

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

Charlie McConalogue: Yes. Teagasc’s marginal abatement cost curve, MACC, and the assessment of the measures we have in place and are being worked on show that it can be achieved. It will take a hell of an effort, but it can be done.

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

Charlie McConalogue: Quite unusually in economic terms, we had a dairy sector that was constrained by quotas for approximately 30 years. That led to a distortion of the balance between agriculture’s various sectors, as dairy could not expand. Following the removal of quotas at European level, we saw an expansion in the dairy herd. There has now been a stabilisation and, indeed, a small net reduction of...

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

Charlie McConalogue: The production of meat and dairy is positive in terms of feeding people. Key to this is continuing our work and taking every step we can to reduce that production’s emissions footprint. Meat and dairy production is something that our country has been doing for a long time and meat and dairy are staple parts of diets in many other parts of the world. Our herd size is just 4% larger...

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

Charlie McConalogue: It is important. This is about doing it sustainably, and it can be done very sustainably.

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

Charlie McConalogue: Meat, dairy and grain production can be done in a way that is sustainable and in sync with the environment around it as part of a sustainable food system.

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

Charlie McConalogue: I disagree with what the Deputy is saying, but I agree that it was appropriate for Teagasc, as it always does, to lead out in terms of its research and the sustainable food system that we have.

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

Charlie McConalogue: I do not agree it was a climate denialist exercise. Teagasc organised that conference. All the work that Teagasc does is robust. Anything it attaches its name to is backed up by its scientific work. Our meat, dairy and grain production has to be part of a sustainable food system. We have a strong and sustainable food system that we have to make even more sustainable, particularly by...

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

Charlie McConalogue: The way it is measured and the science around how we undertake any carbon sequestration always have to be backed up robustly. We are investing a great deal right now. I outlined the research that Teagasc was doing via the 30 flux towers around the country. I have established the soil carbon observatory and funded it for Teagasc. Teagasc’s key role in this is to keep learning and...

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

Charlie McConalogue: We must continually look at this year on year. That is why the climate action plan and the annual plans that each Department and Minister must put together are reviewed, looked at and updated annually. That is why we have this process as well in terms of engagement and accountability. It is something we have to look at on an ongoing basis. Things are evolving rapidly. I gave the...

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

Charlie McConalogue: It was about 15% last year and, potentially, 17% this year but we have not reached the end of the year yet. There has roughly been a 30% reduction compared with a couple of years ago.

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

Charlie McConalogue: No, it is not. The poorest performing output in terms of beef and profitability is the high-fertiliser one-sward yield. The next best performing is the clover sward and the highest performing animals are on the multispecies sward. Looking at the amount of dry matter grass that is being grown, it is similar. The highest amount of dry matter grass is coming from the multispecies sward....

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

Charlie McConalogue: It is very good. This is research that my Department has paid for and it is UCD that is doing that. Teagasc likewise has been doing similar trials. All of this research is emerging now but what happens then is that Teagasc, through what we are funding and supporting, takes that research and works with signpost farms spread across the country to get farmers to apply that research and...

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

Charlie McConalogue: The Deputy is right. The more we can bring this to the local level and have collaboration within the sector and across the different layers in the sector, the more progress we will make. We have been looking to do that as regards applying the knowledge. For example, we have the Teagasc signpost farms where they have developed that network over the last two or three years across the...