Minister Ryan’s Proposed Initiatives Will Benefit Other Sectors More Than Agriculture

IFA President Tim Cullinan said a number of proposals put forward by Minister Eamon Ryan to help farmers to reach our sectoral emissions ceiling will in fact count in favour of other sectors rather than agriculture.

“Minister Ryan has been telling us that we can reduce emissions at farm level through anaerobic digestion, solar panels, forestry and carbon farming yet the vast majority of emissions savings arising from these activities will be credited to other sectors and NOT to agriculture,” Tim Cullinan said.

“This is completely unfair and it must be addressed in the ongoing discussions between the two Ministers,” he said.

“At the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture this week Minister Ryan’s officials again sighted some of these activities as the main ways farmers could reduce emissions yet it had to be pointed out to them that these reductions would be counted against other sectors emissions, not agriculture,” he said.

“Under the Ministers proposals Irish farmers will be helping other sectors to achieve their targets and getting no credit for it themselves. This has to be factored into the discussions between the two Ministers and farmers must get the full credit for our contribution to reducing emissions” he concluded.