Results 3,421-3,440 of 7,978 for speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Carbon Sequestration and Storage in Agriculture: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: The issue that caught my eye most, as discussed by Deputy Carthy, is the number of peatlands that are being farmed around the country, whether they are in mountainous or lowland areas such as those in County Kerry, where there are a lot of dairy cows. We must remember that in the 1970s and 1980s, the EU and Irish Governments gave grants to put shores every 7 m or 8 m apart and to gravel...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Carbon Sequestration and Storage in Agriculture: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: There is one topic called peatlands and another called farming them.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Carbon Sequestration and Storage in Agriculture: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: What about a farmer in Glenamaddy, where I come from, who has peaty land that was shored with the help of an EU grant many years ago and is growing green grass? This is affecting a lot of farmers on the western shore, when you cross the Shannon. On the subject of treating citizens equally, if it is 170 kg in Lusk, County Dublin and in the Golden Vale, will I be able to farm at the same rate...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Carbon Sequestration and Storage in Agriculture: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: That is good to know.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Carbon Sequestration and Storage in Agriculture: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I am trying to establish this for the benefit of farmers from Donegal to Kerry. I am talking about reclaimed land. There is either lough or peat; there is white marl or peat. If it is 170 kg per ha around the country in general under nitrates, I think Mr. Callanan is saying those farms will not be restricted from carrying a stocking rate the same as any other, with regard to these 80,000...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Carbon Sequestration and Storage in Agriculture: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: It will be for a farmer to decide whether to go at it or not.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Carbon Sequestration and Storage in Agriculture: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: What sort of things is the Department talking about doing?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Carbon Sequestration and Storage in Agriculture: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I have one last question. Are Departments aware, under the Paris Agreement, that there is a line that states that while things have to be done as sustainably as possible, food cannot be put under threat? Has that been looked into when the Departments consider measures to mitigate carbon?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Carbon Sequestration and Storage in Agriculture: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I ask Dr. Lanigan to give a breakdown. He said that for the first few years there is not much sequestration. My understanding is that an acre of trees sequesters approximately 4 tonnes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Carbon Sequestration and Storage in Agriculture: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Fine. That would be approximately 3 tonnes. When does it start doing that? Is it doing that over the lifetime of the tree?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Carbon Sequestration and Storage in Agriculture: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Does that not mean we would be good even now if we did it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Carbon Sequestration and Storage in Agriculture: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I thank the witnesses for attending the meeting. Professor O'Connor said earlier that certification would be coming down the line. What did he mean by that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Carbon Sequestration and Storage in Agriculture: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I thank Professor O'Connor. I am familiar with the LiDAR system because I have used it on bogs previously. It was used for the different layers as well underneath the bogs. Dr. Lanigan seemed to speak about using it on top of the soil. Why does he not refer to using it for what is under soils?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Carbon Sequestration and Storage in Agriculture: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Dr. Lanigan said earlier that some of the figures will be adjusted because what was provided up to now appears to be changing and the models that were used or whatever the witnesses were being told were not correct. Is there an awful danger that agriculture has been put into a spot with inaccurate figures on what is being sequestered and basically being beaten over the head because we did...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Carbon Sequestration and Storage in Agriculture: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Dr. Lanigan referred to peat soils earlier. I worked on the raised bog, raised bog habitat and so forth. Every area is different. Dr. Lanigan said Teagasc is doing 30 areas in the country. With the best will in the world, I know Teagasc cannot be everywhere to even trace where active raised bog habitat is in some bogs and even in the blanket bogs - and the witness is correct in saying...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Carbon Sequestration and Storage in Agriculture: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: We call it marly or lochy type of land. There is a very small volume of matter - it is not peat - and the ground under it does not allow water down, to put it very simply. The witnesses have no research yet on that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Carbon Sequestration and Storage in Agriculture: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Dr. Lanigan spoke earlier about forestry. Can these megatonne figures be put into normal figures? There was mention of 8,000 ha over the next ten years. We might hear the dairy herd is emitting X, Y and Z and transport emits so many tonnes. How many tonnes could we sequester? Am I correct that even if we planted the country with forestry, which will not happen, there is only a certain...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Carbon Sequestration and Storage in Agriculture: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: There is talk of pushing out the trees until after 2030 but tell that to someone who has forestry and is looking for money. We must be realistic. I know the Department has made a fair job of trying to keep them there until 2030. On the question of planting, what is the benefit of the likes of anaerobic digesters? I know a guy who has willow and sold it but he is losing money because of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Carbon Sequestration and Storage in Agriculture: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Could carbon credits be given for forestry or methane in the grid that helps that other sector? Can the agricultural sector be credited with that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Carbon Sequestration and Storage in Agriculture: Discussion (17 Nov 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Yes.