Results 3,461-3,480 of 8,023 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: I am talking about the ones that are planted already and the hedgerows that we have not counted, and all of that. We have been told that it is 2030. Is that correct?

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

Michael Fitzmaurice: In the North, Mr. Poots MLA has brought in the LiDAR system, which I have seen used in bogs. It is a pretty effective method. In the North, they are using the system for soils and for all the mounted carbon that is stored in hedges and in the trees around the country. Why have we not done that as a country, and tied up with what they are doing in Northern Ireland? If we did so, we would...

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

Michael Fitzmaurice: Mr. Callanan has referred to the OPW. The issue we are discussing is affecting farmers and the livelihoods of farmers. Would the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine not liaise with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and the OPW, as a last throw of the dice? The OPW does not have a big interest in it, to be honest. It is the Departments Agriculture,...

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

Michael Fitzmaurice: Would it not be accurate to state that at the moment we are talking about what a cow, a bullock or a heifer produces? We are able to provide figures on that. I do not know whether they are right or wrong. We do not know, on the other side, what we are taking in in hedges nationwide, what is on the motorways, what is planted in different parts of the country, what is coming in in barley or...

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

Michael Fitzmaurice: As Mr. Callanan mentioned forestry, I will focus on that area. There have been 2.8 million tonnes of sequestration lost over the last four to five years because people could not get licences. Looking at the targets that are put out there and the duration of the targets, the number that we have lost is like losing 8.6 million tonnes of carbon sequesters, because the licences are stuck in the...

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...