Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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326. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his Department is actively examining seabed grass mapping in Ireland to determine its potential for carbon storage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14289/22]

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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In a response to the commitment set out in the Programme for Government, the Marine Institute, which comes under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, commissioned a report, “”, to review and synthesise existing knowledge in relation to blue carbon and marine carbon sequestration in Irish waters, and to identify critical knowledge gaps. My Department subsequently engaged with the Marine Institute on the development of Terms of Reference for the Marine Institute’s 2021 Blue Carbon research call.

The Marine Institute recently announced that two research teams will undertake a research programme to investigate how Ireland’s marine habitats, including seagrass beds and saltmarsh, store carbon and potentially reduce carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. The funding amounts to €2.6 million over five years, with co-funding provided by the Environmental Protection Agency.  This research will serve to inform future policies and regulation, providing knowledge and evidence to assist with Ireland's goal of attaining 51% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and improve our capacity to meet Irish and international climate and biodiversity targets. The work will commence in the coming months, and my Department will be involved in its development.