Ryan pushing for extra supports for farmers who 'go green'

"We will have to pay people to do what we need to have done with our land to improve our water quality, reduce emissions, and improve by biodiversity," said Environment Minister Eamon Ryan.

Environment Minister Eamon Ryan said it is going to be 'a year of engagement' for the Green Party, 'particularly with the farming community'. Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos

Eamon Ryan is pushing for extra financial supports for farmers who 'go green' as part of next month's budget.

The Green Party leader has admitted that convincing farmers to change their practices is difficult, given the fact that the science on climate change also keeps evolving.

"I remember Danny Healy-Rae saying at an Oireachtas Committee saying: 'For 50 years, you've been telling us to drain the land and now you're telling us not to drain the land,' —  you have to admit that that is the real challenge, because there's different understanding," he said.

"I think the science is becoming more certain, but at the same time you have to start with that reality."

Incentivising change

In an interview with the Irish Examiner in New York, Mr Ryan said farmers should not only be paid for producing good food, but more financial supports linked to improving water quality and engaging in farming practices that protect the environment must be introduced immediately.

He said: "How do you get them [farmers] with you? 

I think the key one in that is we will have to pay people to do what we need to have done with our land to improve our water quality, reduce emissions, and improve by biodiversity.

"There are a variety of ways we can do it. The budget may be one avenue, there are others as well. But yes, we do need to make sure we have ways of incentivising this change, it won't be done by a moral finger-wagging."

Mr Ryan confirmed that he has spoken to Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue on the matter a number of times and said both men have "common cause" on a lot of agriculture issues and the future direction of farming.

Land use

Citing new scientific data on how carbon is both released and stored by forests, Mr Ryan said: "The science around land use, even the science around peaty soils and wetland grassland management keeps changing.

"The way we approach this and manage it, particularly with the farming community, is to sit down, work together, and admit all the uncertainties."

When asked if he expects pushback to a land-use strategy being finalised by Green Party minister of State Pippa Hackett, he said: "I think it's going to be a year of engagement for us, particularly with the farming community."

He added that there is a "real issue" in getting young people into agriculture, pointing out that the average age is now 57.

"I think farming will be and should be a business," he said. 

Farmers are enterprising people, they like being there at the mart, understandably.

"A lot of our supports come from the European Union, and there's only one direction that that's going, and it's going green. 

"That discussion about the derogation wasn't just about 'could we go back and look for a change there', and I think Charlie [McConalogue] was right, I don't think that's going to happen. Because also what's happening with CAP and the whole European model is going green. Are we going to say: 'Oh, sorry, Ireland wants to opt out of a going green strategy?'"

Climate anxiety

Mr Ryan, who is in New York this week to attend a number of UN events around climate and energy, warned of the danger that climate anxiety may have on real progress.

"I think we have to be careful on that because if people are full of anxiety and we scare the living daylights out of them that the world's going to burn and we're in real trouble, that could easily freeze people in fear," he said.

While he warned that "the scientists are absolutely alarmed", he said the political response must be measured.

"Our response has to be [at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December] in Dubai where we say it's a real challenge, the timelines are really difficult, and we need change, but here's how we're going to do it. 

"That has to be the main response, to give people confidence it is possible."