Government may delay decision on agriculture emissions cut

Fri, 22 Jul, 2022 - 20:07

Daniel McConnell Political Editor

The Government may be forced to delay a decision on lowering agricultural carbon emissions until after the summer recess with talks said to be “extremely tense”.

Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue and Energy Minister and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan remain deadlocked as to whether the cuts in emissions will be of the order of 22% as demanded by farmers and Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil backbenchers or 30% as demanded by Mr Ryan.

It has been the intention to have the matter resolved in time for sign off and approval at next Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

While there is a “concerted effort” to agree a deal before then, senior Government sources have conceded that it may be necessary to delay matters until September when the Cabinet will reconvene after a month’s break.

“They are trying very hard to strike a deal but it is hard for either side to give way.

There are real repercussions on either side so it is not easy.

“They want to get this done before the break, but it may not be possible,” said one source.

Farming groups have said that getting their members to sign up to a reduction in emissions of 22% was not easy and they are not able to go any further than that.

Farmers investing in climate-smart technologies should get the credit for reducing carbon emissions and not any other sector, according to the president of the Irish Farmers' Association.

Tim Cullinan said he is concerned that a reduction in emissions due to farmers investing in new technology — such as anaerobic digestion, solar panels, forestry and carbon farming — will be attributed to other key sectors.

IFA President Tim Cullinan said 'we can't have a situation where farmers are going to invest massive amounts of money in new technologies'. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos

Speaking on Friday, Mr Cullinan said that this would be “totally wrong”.

“We can't have a situation where farmers are going to invest massive amounts of money in new technologies and then they won't be getting the credit for it,” he said.

Mr McConalogue said farming must stretch itself when it comes to achieving its sectoral targets.

He said the target must be appropriate to the sector.

We don’t have time not to do the maximum that we possibly can.

“The key engagement is to set a target for agriculture that will deliver and will be achievable,” he said.

“The appropriate balance is backing farm families to produce food because that’s our core job and it’s really important. We do that better in this country than anywhere else in the world."

Mr Ryan has said there needs to be a greater level of reductions from the agriculture sector because of rising emissions.

Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions jump by 5%, EPA warns