Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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971. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 817 of 10 November 2020, if software (details supplied) is available to the public to use; if members of the public can obtain new software; if so, the location and the way in which software can be obtained; the cost of same; the amount it cost his Department to change to the new software; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38062/20]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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In 2018, Ireland replaced the CARBWARE for carbon reporting and projections, with the Canadian Forest Service Carbon Budget Model (CBM). CARBWARE is not publicly available to download and is no longer used for reporting. The Carbon Budget Model is used for all of Ireland’s international reporting commitments in relation to forestry and climate change. This CBM software is available, free of charge, for anybody to download on the website of the Canadian Forest Service.

www.nrcan.gc.ca/climate-change/impacts-adaptations/climate-change-impacts-forests/carbon-accounting/carbon-budget-model/13107.

The cost associated with moving to the CBM software was €13,284. CBM has the ability to run long-term projections of forest carbon balance. Input information describing Ireland’s forest estate is required as well as statistical modelling expertise. This allows it to be used for scenario testing of forest policies and reporting reference levels under new accounting systems.