Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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319. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a reply will issue to correspondence from a person (details supplied) in relation to greenhouse gases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22308/19]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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At the outset, it is important to clarify that neither I nor my Department received the correspondence referred to by the Deputy.

In response to the specific query now received, I would like to highlight that our agriculture sector is internationally recognised as one of the most carbon efficient systems of food production in the EU and we are also recognised as for the efficiency of production of our temperate grassland systems.

Calculation of the national inventory on Ireland’s Greenhouse Gas (GHGs) emissions is actually a matter for the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Energy (DCCAE), with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) compiling Ireland's national greenhouse gas emission inventory on an annual basis.

Within the National Inventory report, emissions are classified into the ten following sectors; Agriculture, Transport, Energy Industries, Residential, Manufacturing Combustion, Industrial Processes, F Gases, Waste, Commercial Services and Public Services.

The outputs produced meet the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) requirements and follow the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) guidelines. The EPA methodology is reviewed annually by international reviewers and there is significant collaboration between inventory experts, agricultural production and agri-environmental researchers, my Department and the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Full details of the methodology applied to the calculation to the emissions for the agriculture sector are outlined in the latest National Inventory Report which can be found here: