Environmental Policy
Dail Éireann — 2021-06-24
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Ossian Smyth (GP), Dún Laoghaire

I welcome the Deputy raising this matter. I agree with his assertion that it is possible to achieve both goals of maintaining a sustainable agrifood sector and achieving very ambitious carbon reductions.
The programme for Government contains a commitment to an annual average 7% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to 2030, representing a 51% reduction over the decade. To meet these ambitions, we must reduce the level of carbon emissions across all sectors of our economy, including in the agrifood sector. Irish agriculture has a positive international reputation in terms of producing high-quality, sustainable produce. We need to maintain that reputation. This will not be possible if emissions from the sector continue to increase. We also know from the Environmental Protection Agency's State of the Environment report that much needs to be done to protect our water, our air and our biodiversity.
As well as developing the next climate action plan, my Department and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine are evaluating the potential climate contributions from land use improvements, to develop a land-use strategy. Land use offers significant potential to sequester additional carbon and may provide a new source of family farm income and rural economic benefit.
With the correct policy choices in the agrifood sector, we can reward farmers for sequestering carbon, restoring biodiversity, producing clean energy and improving water and air quality while remaining profitable and competitive. This will offer opportunities to innovative enterprises which are sustainable in the long term for Ireland and its workers. It will also cement our position as a producer of sustainable food produce.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2021-06-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:49:26+00:00
Sitting date: 2021-06-24