Renewable Energy Generation
Dail Éireann — 2022-03-31
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Matt Carthy (SF), Cavan-Monaghan

I commend the Deputy on raising this issue. I agree with his final point wholeheartedly.
This is one of the areas where any of us who stand on farmyards can see a glaring opportunity for farmers to contribute positively to our climate action obligations and that they want to play that positive role. I agree with the point that farmers must be able to include and sell excess electricity into the grid.
I will add that we need to ensure farmers are rewarded for the emissions they save as a result of these actions in order that they can be offset in respect of the on-farm emissions liability. The Minister will know I am a strong believer in the need to assess, on a farm-by-farm basis, emissions, sequestration and the capture that takes place on individual farms to reward farmers for best practice. This is one of those areas, but I fear that farmers will not be recognised for the electricity being generated on their farms.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2022-03-31/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:50:19+00:00
Sitting date: 2022-03-31