Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Energy and food security are the two most important sovereignty issues facing Ireland over the coming decade. Agriculture and rural land are the pillar upon which both of these are built. As the world shifts globally from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy, successive Governments have been sitting on their hands and have failed to provide the leadership required to guide the agricultural sector towards a low emission, green energy economy.

Agriculture contributes 32% of Ireland’s total emissions, as the Minister knows. This Government has demonstrated in equal measure its failure to protect the interests of its citizens and to prepare for the changing conditions under which our farmers, food producers and land custodians must operate over the coming decades. This Government has failed to prioritise and strategise and to monetise interventions to develop and support both primary agriculture and off-farm diversification in a sustainable manner. It is evident from the recent testimony of farming organisations to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Climate Action that farmers recognise the challenges facing us as a society and acknowledge their portion of responsibility in bringing about change. What was equally evident, however, was that there is no consensus on how to move forward. There is no agreed framework for primary agriculture, food production, afforestation, peatland restoration, biomass production, land use, energy production or habitat conservation. Nor is there a strategy to ensure a just, fair and equitable transition to a green economy for farmers and farm families most at risk of job or income loss.

The Minister is presiding over a sector embarking on a journey into uncharted waters with no clear destination, navigation system or fuel and on board a leaky vessel.The Department is functioning in a silo without an operational cross-departmental strategy. The agencies under departmental governance also operate in silos, with little or no meaningful cross-collaboration. The Government urgently needs to set in place an implementation strategy that will set out the trajectory of specific, measurable, realistic and attainable targets, with a clearly defined plan of action.

The agriculture sector needs the Government to provide leadership, define policy, enact legislation, undertake research and development and put in place a comprehensive range of appropriate financial incentives to create the conditions for the sector to make the transition to a sustainable green economy. Sinn Féin has many proposals, of which I am sure the Minister is aware, but I will remind him of them. Agriculture has huge potential to add to our renewable energy efforts and contribute substantially to a reduction in emissions. We can offer the farming community alternative revenue streams such as developing a biogas industry and biomass supply and allowing small-scale generators to supply to the electricity grid. Establishing biogas, or renewable gas, initiatives can deal with farm waste and produce renewable gas to displace fossil fuels. This gas can be used in electricity generation, as a transport fuel, particularly for the haulage industry, and for heating. In electricity generation this form of on-demand indigenous lower emissions power can be used to complement intermittent sources of energy such as wind and solar power. An SEAI report from 2016 saw the potential to create 3,000 jobs in this sector in the coming decade.

We need to develop biomass resources as we cannot advocate change without providing an alternative. Growing these crops will provide the farming community with an alternative. The current peat-fired plants are converting to biomass, but we are in the crazy situation where it will be imported. It can be grown here, thus reducing our carbon footprint. It would also mean a new industry for farmers, particularly in the midlands. Solar energy projects have huge potential. Sinn Féin tabled a Bill on rooftop solar power which has reached Committee Stage in the Dáil. It aims to develop a feed-in tariff. Considering large farm buildings, farmers have a lot to offer in that regard. A Dutch dairy co-op plans to install 400,000 rooftop solar photovoltaic panels on its members' farms. Once fully implemented, the scheme will supply enough electricity to supply 33,000 households. These are income options for farmers that would displace fossil fuels on this island and lower emissions.

Establishing a sugar beet industry must be progressed. It would also provide alternative income. The growth period of this broadleaf plant would add to carbon sequestration. On forestry, studies need to be conducted to see which are the best trees and crops we can use as carbon sinks. We need to grow broadleaf trees which also add to biodiversity. We need to look at other plants, including short rotation crops such as willow and miscanthus, to assess their carbon sink benefits. Hedgerows throughout rural Ireland are rich in biodiversity, but they also provide for carbon sequestration. They must be protected and seen for the climate benefits the offer.

The Government is failing to make meaningful progress on the issue of climate action in the agriculture sector. Farmers need to be brought into the conversation and provided with real alternatives for meaningful change to happen.