Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 469: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the extent to which agreements entered into in the context of CAP reform were tested against the need for compliance with the Kyoto protocols; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4115/07]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland's decision, in the context of CAP reform, to opt for full decoupling at an early date took account, among other considerations, of Ireland's commitments under the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It recognised the fact that agriculture was still the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions (though proportionately a declining one), and that a large proportion of these emissions came from grazing livestock. The decision offered a clear opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the sector, not alone as a result of the fall in animal numbers but also from the attendant fall in fertiliser associated with the decrease in the size of the national herd.