Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Michael Creed, to the House. We already have heard that Ireland is off track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% across non-industrial sectors by 2020. At present, we are heading for cuts of only between 6% and 11%. I am more concerned about a report from Brussels-based non-governmental organisation, Carbon Market Watch, which highlighted how Ireland has negotiated a wide variety of get-out clauses and other special exemptions for 2020 to 2030. We need to be on target and send strong signals in that regard. Any short-term negotiation to reduce our targets will not serve us towards the overall 2050 target of cuts of 80% to 95% of our emissions.

We need to make strong decisions now to ensure we are actively incentivising and demanding from the public and private sectors the investment in the necessary emissions-reducing technologies, as well as sectorial priorities, which will help us transition to a low-carbon economy. This means new choices. Ireland has an extraordinarily low level of horticulture and fruit production, despite our conducive climate. This area represents about 10% of our action production, as opposed to grassland. How will we re-focus in that regard?

Ireland has indicated a land use move from 11% to 18% of forest cover to be utilised as carbon sinks. There are recognised scientific concerns about flaws in the reliance of forestry as a carbon offset. The intergovernmental panel on climate change stated land sequestration itself is uncertain and subject to carbon cycle rebound and can be of reductive value. I am concerned we are overstating our reliance on the land use alone.

That said, it is important we are talking about forests, not simply about trees. In 2013 in an article 17 report as part of the habitats directive, Sitka spruce forestry, which is not biodiverse nor creates an organic setting but single crop forestry, was recognised as a conservation threat to our habitats and species. What are the Minister’s plans to make forestry more diverse? How does the pollinator plan fit in with the forestry plan?

We did not include our national peatlands in our land use strategy. I am curious, as well as concerned, that we do not seem willing to move away from peat extraction. The Bord na Móna deadline of 2030 to move away from peat extraction is inadequate. The fact we still intend to extract peat for horticulture and mushroom casing beyond 2030 seems unsustainable. Has the Minister spoken to the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs about hedgerows?