Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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158. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will outline the anticipated steps needed in order to implement carbon farming as a reliable source of income for farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60853/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Both I and my Department recognises the important role that land managers including our farmers and foresters will play in meeting our ambitious national climate change targets.

The successful achievement of these targets will be influenced by the early adoption of innovations such as Carbon Farming.

The potential to reward farmers with a new income stream for their carbon sequestration activities is recognised within Climate Action Plan 2021 which commits government to, “explore the development of a carbon farming model”.

As a result, officials within the Department are currently exploring, primarily through the Carbon Farming Working Group, how an enabling framework for carbon farming can be developed and although this work is at an early stage the potential rewards for farmers, and society in general, are clear.

The most recent proposals from the European Commission on developing a certification framework for carbon removals is key in this regard and it is important that activity at national level keeps in line with and is complementary to European activity.  

Developing baseline data to support measurement, reporting and monitoring has been highlighted in the recent Commission proposal as crucial in providing the quality and credible carbon farming actions.

To help establish the required baseline data required for a carbon sequestration reward model, I have provided funding through my Department, for initiatives such as the establishment of the National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory, the Pilot Soil Sampling Programme and the Farm Environmental Scheme along with a number of European Innovation Partnership (EIP) research projects based on peatsoils, to provide the required data for the development of future policy options in this area.

My Department currently supports our farmers and foresters in their sequestration activities primarily through the Afforestation Programme including agroforestry, in a variety of configurations. An example of a positive development to date in this area is my Department’s ‘Woodland Environmental Fund’ where private businesses can part-fund the establishment of native woodlands on farms and from which a number of lessons may be learned for the future implementation of an Irish based Carbon Farming incentivisation scheme.

I am hugely excited and enthusiastic about the future of carbon farming in Ireland. It will play a key role in meeting our climate ambitions while also creating a new potential income for farmers.