Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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45. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the steps that have been taken to date to implement the 19 recommendations of the report of the Food Vision Dairy Group. [11497/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I established the Food Vision Dairy Group last year to advance the actions for the dairy sector identified in the Food Vision 2030 strategy, taking account of the requirement for the sector to contribute to achieving the targets set for agriculture emissions in the Climate Act process.

The Group will plot a long term roadmap for our world class dairy industry. The Irish dairy sector, which has out farmers as its bedrock, is one of the most sustainable anywhere in the world. The products produced using top-quality Irish milk are in demand across the globe and consumer recognise Irish dairy as a sustainable, safe and nutritious product.

The first priority for the Group was to chart a pathway to achieving the legally binding target of a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture by 2030, equivalent to a reduction of 5.75 MT of carbon dioxide equivalent.

The Dairy Group submitted their final report in October 2022, which has been published on my Department’s website. The report identified measures which could contribute to reducing emissions. The publication was timely as it then served to inform the Climate Action Plan 2023 which was launched in December 2022.

The implementation roadmap for actions outlined in the Plan will be contained in a supplementary annex of actions which is scheduled to be published imminently. My Department will work collaboratively with the other Departments and agencies involved to implement these priority actions.

We want to ensure that we protect this generation of dairy farmers while also futureproofing the sector for subsequent generations.