Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin is committed to reaching the State's renewable energy targets for 2020. The State has committed to generating 16% of its overall energy requirements from renewable sources by 2020. Our party will introduce measures on an ongoing basis to grow renewable energy production and to reduce Ireland's carbon emissions. This will require involvement from the State and at community level.

Our party supported the passage of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 after years of inaction by successive Governments. This was a small but significant step in the right direction, considering the absence of any prior climate action legislation. Inaction by successive Governments means Ireland has hit a carbon cliff and now has to play catch-up to avoid up to €1 billion a year fines after 2020. Our party proposed investing in retrofitting of houses as a means of carbon reduction and tackling fuel poverty. In the first instance, this will mean extending the warmer homes scheme to windows and doors. We oppose any further privatisation of State energy assets. It will involve the full implementation of existing legislation and practice, the setting of sectoral targets for emission limits that Sinn Féin and others tried to correct during the passage of previous legislation through the Dáil. The expert advisory panel created in the Act should be independent of Government. Definite targets for emission limits should be included in legislation. Annual emission limits for each of the ten year periods from 2020 to 2050 should be the same as those agreed by member states under the European Union's Energy Roadmap 2050. Local authorities should be given a greater role in the mitigation plan and in sustainable development more generally. A national green climate fund separate from the environment fund should be established, funded from carbon taxes, emissions, trading profits and other environmental taxes, to be used to support climate mitigation and adaptation in developing countries.

We support the need to advance global commitments to reducing greenhouse gases and meeting goals of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2° centigrade. The progress made at the UN Conference of the Parties in Paris in December 2015 must be welcomed. The conference involved world leaders, 196 countries and NGO campaigns, including those from Ireland North and South, so we are broadly supportive of that. We believe the Government should be investing in our green industry to boost the economy and provide jobs. We have one of the highest per capitarates of oil consumption in the world. Investment in wave and wind power and other alternative sources of energy must be a priority. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, has reported that every euro spent on better energy homes delivers a net benefit of €5 to society through energy, CO₂and other pollution savings.

I say all of this as an introduction to the agricultural role. There are many ways that we can collectively meet our objectives. The assessment of the Minister's own Department is that, "The emissions from Irish agriculture are lower now than they were in 1990 - the reference year against which targets are set, when the sector accounted for 34% of national emissions." That sounds quite positive. The Department goes on to talk about carbon sequestration and how:

[W]ell managed grassland soils, the predominant land use in Ireland are effective at sequestering carbon. Scientific measurements in Ireland have shown that this sequestration process cancels out much of the emissions associated with food production. In addition, planting of new forests and good forest management further mitigate emissions from the use of land for food production. Ireland has a programme in place, supported by the Department to increase the planting of new forests.

Again, that is very positive. If one reads what the environmental lobby has to say, it has a completely different analysis. There are contradictory views on this matter.

I will say, because I am from a rural area, that we cannot put the boot into our agricultural community to meet the responsibilities. It has to be shared. There are schemes like the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS. According to a presentation to the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine by the Minister's officials, the Department is on target to meet more than 50,000 applications for that scheme, which is very welcome. More schemes of this nature that contribute to our responsibilities are very welcome.

Other sectors of society have to step up here. This is a collective effort and I am concerned. I have read all the different points of view, come from a rural area and understand the critical and important role farmers play in these communities. It will be the Minister's responsibility to square the circle. Food Harvest 2020 sets ambitious targets for our island in food production and contributing to our overall economy. While the Minister needs to square that circle, it is not just his responsibility. Other colleagues such as the Minister, Deputy Naughten, and the Minister, Deputy Ross, in the area of transport, will have to work with the Minister, Deputy Creed. There is a collective responsibility in Government.

This is the Department's analysis. It is published. The Minister is accountable to the European Commission and has to stand over everything he says in that. I could quote from the farming sector and I could quote from the environmental pillar. Both sides have their own perspective and analysis. It will be the Minister's responsibility to stand over the science and to get the balance right. I would be concerned that an unfair emphasis will be put on the farming sector to meet the responsibilities while other sectors are not stepping up when that is what we need to see happen. I thank the Minister for his statement. He has a very challenging balancing act but I think all rural representatives will say there are many things we can do other than what is suggested, which is to slash the national herd. I do not support that.