Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Could we not start to pay them for other nature-based services? That is where the market is going. The food industry relies on exports. The big companies, such as the Kerry Group, are committing to science-based targets because they know if they are not following science-based targets, they will not get finance in five or ten years and they will find it very difficult to sell on an Origin Green brand. Kerrygold will not get the premium if we are not truly green in everything we do. The Kerry Group has committed to a 30% reduction in its scope 3 emissions where farmers who provide it with goods need to deliver a 30% emissions reduction. One of the income streams going to Irish farming will be when co-operatives, processors, meat companies and dairy companies start to pay farmers more for delivering that 30% reduction which is what we need.

We need efficiency in everything and it will be really challenging. Next week we will go to the European Council where limits will be set on energy use. In Ireland with a growing economy the challenge is beyond compare. We also have the fastest growing population in Europe with workers coming in on work permits, displaced people from Ukraine, a significant increase in refugees as well as our own population growth. How will we do all that while also restricting the volume of energy we use which is what the European Commission is insisting on? It is a real challenge.

I accept there was a contradiction in our policy on data centres. We kept the door too wide open for too long. The easy trope out there that data centres are the evil responsible for all our woes on climate is just not true.