Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. I had the pleasure of sitting beside him for nearly four years on the committee we worked on with regard to climate change. From my point of view, it was very informative. That work we began many years ago in 2016 has now come through. The Minister has a great knowledge of the issues at hand and I am sure he will do a very capable job. We see that in the legislation before us today. It is a significant legislative measure and one that society has been asking for and talking about for a long time. We have to deliver on this action plan to ensure we meet our targets up to 2030, if not all the way to 2050.

However, there are issues along the way. The Minister knows my form and where I am coming from, which is the agriculture base. It is about bringing the agricultural community with us. That will probably be one of the very significant challenges we will have with this legislation. There is great unrest in the agricultural community at present. People in that community believe there has been a lack of engagement so far. They fundamentally believe they have not been engaged with on the key issues in this climate action proposal, which is a significant legislative measure. They know this must happen, but they want to be involved in the process. That lack of involvement is a key issue for us. How we can now re-engage the agricultural community is a challenge for the Oireachtas and the Joint Committee on Climate Action. That committee has to invite members of the agricultural community in at some stage. They need to be a part of the process and involved in the system. It will also be an issue for the Minister and his Department to ensure that the agricultural organisations and community will be involved in this process.

I am 44 years old and when I trained to be a farmer it required 500 hours over three years or attendance at an agricultural college for a year. If one is training to be a farmer today, one does four and a half years in Cork Institute of Technology, CIT, or in a college setting and then one goes to agricultural college for another year. One spends five and a half years in college. We have the most educated farming students in the world coming through that process. No other place in the world produces a farming graduate like this country. These farmers are a resource which we must get on board. The younger generation of farmers, in particular, are far advanced regarding what is involved and what is needed. They know it themselves. Ten years ago one sold one's product on the basis of traceability. One had to have a traceable product. That is done and dusted now; we know we have a traceable product. Now, it is about sustainability. Farmers know that if they are going to compete in world markets, their product must be sustainable. That is the space in which they are at present.

Consider the announcement today of €2 million from Science Foundation Ireland for a project in Bandon, in my part of the world, to ensure that a farm, which is owned by four local co-operatives in west Cork, can become carbon neutral within five years. That is the type of technology, input and involvement the agricultural community is capable of delivering when it comes to this important process. We need to engage that community and ensure that it is involved, and that it is not outside the gate but inside the room. That will be a major cohort of work for us in the next few months, in particular, and into the future as we push forward with this plan.

The plan sets carbon targets and gives real power to the Climate Change Advisory Council. It requires many sectors to reach their targets. Agriculture has issues. It accounts for 35.3% of the emissions.Farmers know they have issues in making sure they can become more carbon efficient and projects like the one announced in Bandonthis morning will be part of the solution. That will be the body of work, in particular over a short space of time. If we have large protests outside Leinster House in the next few months then we will have started on the wrong foot in many ways. As we would be starting on the back foot, now is the time for us to engage with farming organisations, as well as the farming community itself because if we do that, we then can move forward together.

Many speakers have spoken about the real challenges. While there are challenges in delivering these targets, there is a great willingness to do so within urban and rural communities whether people are young or old. It is an issue that affects my mother down to my children and goes through the entire family dynamic, which is why we need to ensure this legislation is passed. We then need to deliver on the legislation and we can do so by informing society about the necessary changes and by bringing society with us. I will do my best to ensure that happens. I say to the Minister that in many ways, we are on the back foot when it comes to a third of emissions and we need to make sure that we bring everyone along this process.