Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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198. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the work being done to develop climate change mitigation policy applicable to his Department and the public participation opportunities incorporated in that work. [3335/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Under the outline Heads of Climate Action and Low Carbon Bill, which have been published by the Minister of the Environment, Community and Local Government, it is provided that (inter alia) a sectoral roadmap for agriculture will be developed as part of a process leading to a National Low Carbon Roadmap. My Department has initiated work on the preparation of the agriculture sectoral roadmap and facilitated an eight week public consultation that ran from September to November 2013. My Department understands that there will be further public consultation on the draft National Low Carbon Roadmap in due course.

It is planned that the first agriculture sectoral roadmap will examine and outline coherent and cost-effective measures that will seek to achieve sectoral emissions reduction initially in the period to 2020, while being mindful of the very real global food security imperative.

The sectoral roadmap will also examine how the agriculture sector can adapt to the effects of climate change. It is likely that, in Ireland’s case, climate change will bring both opportunities and threats that must be considered by all actors involved.

As well as benefitting from public consultation, my Department is also working with colleagues in Teagasc who have carried out very relevant research in relation to cost-effective agricultural mitigation measures. These include the Marginal Abatement Cost Curve for Irish Agriculture (September 2012) and the more recent study ‘Carbon-Neutrality as a horizon point for Irish Agriculture’ (December 2013) which aims to address and provide a scientific framework for the challenge posed in seeking an approach to carbon-neutrality in the longer term for agriculture.

My Department will continue to work closely with other Departments and agencies in developing the technical capacity necessary to underpin evolution of national climate policy and the development of a definition for carbon neutrality in the agricultural sector.

In early 2012 my Department procured the services of a team of independent consultants to carry out an environmental analysis of various scenarios by which the targets in Food Harvest 2020 might be achieved. At the outset of the analysis, my Department facilitated an eight week period of public consultation which ran from May to July 2012. All submissions received were forwarded to the consultants for consideration. When the draft final report was ready, a further eight week period of public consultation was facilitated on the draft, and this ran from September to November 2013. Again all submissions were forwarded to the consultants for consideration before finalising their report. In addition to the two periods of public consultation, officials of my Department met with representatives of Environmental Pillar on five occasions to discuss the progress of the analysis, which includes recommendations on mitigation. The consultants were present at three of these meetings. It is expected that the final report of this analysis will be available very shortly.