Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that and I was not targeting the Senator's point. There is constant mixed messaging about sequestration, of which afforestation is a critical part, and we need farmers to plant more trees. I have made the point ad nauseamthat we cannot expect any one area of the country to carry all the obligation.

I fully acknowledge Senator Paul Daly's point about soil management. Soil fertility is a significant aspect of the matter. There is an over-application of chemical fertiliser, an inadequate application of organic fertiliser and lime can necessitate the use of additional chemical fertiliser. Perhaps we need to transition to compulsory soil-testing at some stage and use the data to ascertain the appropriate level of chemical fertiliser to apply, and maximise soil fertility. It is critical to meet the global challenges that face us. We can be a part of the solution to the problem of how to feed a growing global population. We aspire to be world leaders in the carbon efficiency of our agricultural sector and it is not fair to state that we cannot be.

No sector of Irish society deals more often with the issues of climate change than farmers. They were outside in all kinds of weather in the past 12 months, from drought to 6 ft of snow, and they know that they are dealing with climate change daily. All the engagement which I have had with farming organisations indicates that they are up for the challenges that lie ahead. We need to provide leadership and bring people with us. In the context of the difficult decisions that we face, it is critical that we do not run ahead of people. We need to build consensus and bring people with us, which is the challenge. As I stated, I have taken copious notes and engaged extensively with the industry and farming organisations. I am satisfied that although we are behind the curve on our targets for 2020 - there is no point in putting out any message other than that we will not meet those targets, and I could give a long dissertation explaining why - we will meet our 2030 targets. The Common Agricultural Policy post-2020 will be a critical part of developing a toolbox to help us in that regard, but is not true that we are not doing anything.We are spending €4 billion in the current rural development programme and we are encouraging the planting of thousands of hedgerows under GLAS. It is as if farmers never cared about hedgerows because they are planting thousand of kilometres of them under GLAS. There are ANC payments and beef data and genomics investment to improve genetic standards, which mean better bred cattle which finish faster and produce a lower carbon footprint, like the economic breeding index, EBI, in the dairy sector which produces more from fewer cows. Senator Marshall summed it up well when quoting from a report from Europe which suggested that a little done by many is the way to do this, rather than a few doing huge things. There is no silver bullet. We need to take a series of perhaps boring but essential steps and I believe the industry is up for that.

I cannot allow the allegation rest that Fine Gael is a party that supports large farmers, a point made by Senator Humphreys. In the convergence of the current CAP we have presided over the transfer of over €100 million in farm payments from farmers with a higher per-hectare payment to farmers with a lower per-hectare payment. That journey of convergence will continue under the next CAP and the environmental ambition in the next CAP is going to be more significant. We are accelerating a journey that we were on long before many people were talking about climate change and the environment. We learned from trade missions, and our markets, that this was what consumers were demanding. In global markets it is almost taken for granted, although we can never do so, that our produce is safe, nutritious and traceable. However, we are being asked increasingly difficult questions about our carbon footprint, our antimicrobial resistance, our use of plastics and our animal welfare status. In the higher value-added markets in which we want to be, these are the critical issues and our unique selling points. We have to continue to be ahead of the curve in these areas.

It is challenging but I am satisfied that the industry can rise to meet the challenges. Rather than pointing fingers at certain sectors, we need to work collaboratively and co-operatively. The walls between the transport sector and the agriculture sector or the energy sector are artificial. By all acting collectively and globally, we will be able to arrest the alarming march of climate change.