Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)
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At the outset I welcome our old colleague and friend, the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, here to the Seanad who, thank God, has gone on to greener pastures.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach very much indeed. The Minister of State is very welcome and I thank him for coming here to debate this all-important topic.

We are all concerned about climate but one thing that I am very concerned about and on which I am hearing from some farmers is that they are looking for a clear pathway as to what supports and grants are available to them in respect of climate resilience. Farmers have been through a turbulent time between Covid-19, Brexit prior to that, and now with the crisis and war between Russia and Ukraine. They have had to deal with a great deal in recent years.

My concern is to ask the Minister of State to outline, first, what supports are being put in place. On the different grants and supports, will there be a go-to person like a one-stop-shop, where farmers can go for support and to ask questions? One size does not fit all when it comes to farming because there are big and small firms. The grants and supports and any directives that are coming have to be tailored to meet the needs of the farm.

While I know that this cannot be done on an individual basis, there needs to be separate criteria for smaller farmers compared with the larger farmers. Sometimes the larger farmers may have the resources and it may be easier for them to carry out the necessary works whereas some of the smaller farmers are under a great deal of financial pressure. This is something that certainly needs to be highlighted.

I am interested then in hearing what supports and measures are being put in place to support farmers, be they small or large, and whether there will be a one-stop-shop. At this time, especially, they need our support more than ever. I know that Teagasc and the different farm advisory groups are carrying out very important work but there has to be an open door of communication with the Irish Farmers Association, IFA, and the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, ICMSA, also. I thank the Minister of State and look forward to hearing his response.

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach and Senator Maria Byrne for raising this very important issue.

The Climate Action Plan 2021 commits the agriculture sector to reducing its emissions by between 21% and 30%, which is a doubling of commitment based on the Climate Action Plan 2019. This means agriculture emissions are to reduce to between 16 million to 18 million tonnes in 2030, which is an absolute reduction of between 5 million and 7 million tonnes. The sector will also contribute additionally through reducing land-based emissions, through better managing our soils and, in particular, peat soils.The focus over the next decade will be on a significant cut in chemical nitrogen use, by making better use of organic manures and transitioning to clover and multispecies swards. The sector will also transition away from the use of use of calcium ammonium nitrate and will use protected urea as its main source of chemical fertiliser. This will help reduce absolute farm emissions. The beef sector will need to transition to a system that reduces the average finishing age from the current 27-month average to 24 months. This will reduce absolute methane emissions on farms.

While existing measures and technologies will bring agriculture very close to the upper end of its proposed agreed range, new technologies or some diversification will be needed. While the sector broadly will be able to maintain agricultural output in our beef and dairy sectors, it is clear that emissions from the dairy sector present a significant challenge. The objective of the recently convened Food Vision 2030 dairy group is to consider how best to stabilise and then reduce emissions from the dairy sector to ensure that the overall sector’s climate targets remain within reach.

The Common Agricultural Policy strategic plan, CSP, for 2023 to 2027 will be an important delivery mechanism to achieve our climate ambition. The environmental and climate ambition within the CSP will be aligned to the new green architecture of the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP. This will operate across both pillars of CAP expenditure to achieve a coherent overall approach. A huge increase in funding for a CAP strategic plan will support farm incomes, while significantly increasing environmental ambition. A total expenditure under the plan to €9.83 billion by the end of 2027 is planned. This is a clear example of our desire to support our farmers and the tremendous work that they do.

Critical to reducing the climate footprint of Irish agriculture is the role of research, innovation and knowledge exchange. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine funds research in this area through national and international competitive funding mechanisms that over the past six years have allocated up to €30 million on climate, greenhouse gas, GHG, emission mitigation and climate-related co-benefit research. Coupled to this is the grant-in-aid to Teagasc, such as the €147 million provided in 2021, which is directed towards research and farm advisory activities related to climate-smart and sustainable agriculture.

Examples of projects funded by the Department which will feed into knowledge and strategies to reduce farm carbon footprints include Farm-Carbon, which is exploring the contribution of on-farm hedgerows and non-forest woodland to carbon stocks in agricultural landscapes, or SmartGrass and SmartSward, which recently researched multispecies swards and also served to inform the recently announced multispecies sward measure as part of a support package to farmers worth €12 million.

The Senator also talked about having a go-to person or a one-stop shop. I will bring those views back to the Minister.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I know it is not the Minister of State’s Department and I appreciate the fact that there is grant aid being provided. However, I would like to see a greater variety of grant aid. Supports need to be put in place. The Minister of State spoke of the 2030 food strategy group that has been set up. Ireland is at a crisis in terms of our grain and feed suppliers. Farmers have been encouraged to actually plant grain, which is a thing they have not done in many years, certainly in large quantities. I would like to see supports being mentioned around that whole area because there will be a shortage to do with the food supply chain and it is a key area that needs to be looked at. Perhaps the Minister of State can bring that back as well because these are very important things.

There is a fear factor with the farmers. I understand that Teagasc is doing a great job and everything and the grant of €147 million provided in 2021 is to be welcomed, and I am sure there will be an even greater fund in 2022 with all that farmers are going through, but there probably needs to be more co-operation and reaching out to farmers of all sizes, from the small to larger farmers. While they want to work with us, the Minister of State and the Department, there is a fear factor. We need to allay those fears because they are part of our culture.

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this very important issue again. She talked about the food supply chain and how farmers are concerned. We need to keep the lines of communication from all various Departments open. Our climate is changing and these changes are affecting our agricultural sector. The sector is committed to sustainable development and it fully recognises that to be sustainable, it must be climate-resilient. We must continue to adapt and plan. The Department is working with all the various stakeholders in these sectoral policies.

The Senator is right that in Food Vision 2030, the new forest strategy will also consider the important role forests play in climate change mitigation and adaption. There are many synergies between adaptation and mitigation actions, which is particularly true for the agricultural sector. Climate action is a two-sided coin, with mitigation on one side and adaptation on the other. To be resilient, both need to be integrated.

The Senator made a very important point that we probably need a go-to person. Teagasc and all the various organisations are working extremely hard, but perhaps a one-stop shop where one can deal with all these issues would be good. I thank the Senator again for raising this.