Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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994. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to establish the drainage status of grassland peat soils in Ireland further to the findings of a study (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12134/24]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I am committed to reducing the knowledge and data gaps evident in the land use sector by investing in the research needed to better understand greenhouse gas emissions and removals from our land. This is evidenced with investments by my Department over recent years in the National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory, soil mapping projects and the Irish Soil Moisture Monitoring Network.

More recently, I announced funding of twenty research grants worth just over €24 million to support research across sixteen institutes. My Department’s 2023 Thematic Research Call will support research across the agri-food, forest, and bioeconomy sectors.

As part of this research call, I awarded over €1.5m to a project led by Teagasc titled “Geospatial drainage status detection mapping of organic rich soils for National Inventory Reporting and policy support needs”. This much needed project will select and classify lowland peat soils on grassland across several sites, roll out technologies, create on the ground validation and monitoring datasets and conduct a SWOT analysis of these technologies to identify a way forward to produce a national drainage status map for Ireland.

There is a recognition that estimates in the greenhouse gas emission inventory rely on untested assumptions regarding the extent, nutrient status, and drainage status of these soils. This strategic investment by my Department will offer an opportunity to drastically improve emission estimates in the sector and provide for more informed and justifiable policy regarding the management of such soils, benefiting Irish agriculture and society at large.