Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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390. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to co-ordinate meeting carbon methane reduction targets without detrimental effects on the agri food sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38863/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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As part of the Whole of Government approach to climate policy, officials from my Department are working closely with other Departments and in particular, with the Department of Communications, Climate Action and the Environment as the lead in this area.

The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 provides a statutory basis for Government policy on climate change. One of the key objectives of this Act is to set out an approach to carbon neutrality that does not compromise our capacity for food production. As required by the Act, the National Mitigation Plan (NMP) is currently being prepared and I understand that this will be released shortly for a period of public consultation by my colleague, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment. Agricultural sectorial mitigation measures have been prepared for input to the NMP.

A range of actions are currently being undertaken to make Irish farming more environmentally sustainable,  including measures under the Rural Development Programme (RDP) which is worth almost €4 billion over seven years. The Programme is strongly targeted towards environmental benefits, including Knowledge Transfer (KT) programmes, which will bring the latest innovative sustainability research and practices direct to farmers.

The RDP also includes the Green, Low-Carbon, Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS), which offers opportunities to support emission reductions and carbon sequestration through various actions such as hedgerow and tree planting, minimum tillage and encouraging the sustainable management of upland peatlands, while at the same time addressing other environmental threats such as biodiversity and water quality.

In addition, the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) is directly targeted at the climate emissions of 30,000 beef farmers. Its objective is to lower the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions by improving the quality and efficiency of the national beef herd.

Furthermore, the establishment and maintenance of landscape features (for example, Ecological Focus Areas and maintenance of permanent pasture under CAP Pillar I) can assist with achieving other environmental objectives which are expected of land, such as water and biodiversity management, in addition to carbon sequestration benefits.

All of these efforts are being implemented alongside an extensive afforestation scheme. Afforestation is the main cost effective land based climate mitigation tool available to Ireland, followed by the above mentioned mitigation technologies in agriculture itself. Climate change mitigation by forests, forest fuels and wood products is one of the principal drivers of the policy to expand forest cover out to mid century.