Over the weekend, I met with members of the Kerry wing of the Irish Farmers' Association, IFA, Mr. Kenny Jones, chairman, Ms Mary Fleming and Mr. Darren Sheehy, to discuss the sector emission ceilings for the agricultural sector. Irish agriculture is one of the most sustainable in the world despite media commentary suggesting otherwise. Irish farmers produce food of the highest quality with a low environmental footprint. Farming and the wider agrifood sector are the backbone of economic activity in rural Ireland. It is Ireland's largest indigenous sector, providing employment to more than 300,000 people, directly and indirectly. Despite wider economic challenges, exports from the agrifood sector were €14.5 billion in 2019.

The Government has indicated the sectoral emissions ceiling range for agriculture will be the equivalent to a percentage emissions reduction of between 22% and 30% compared with 2018. Achieving a reduction of 22% will be extremely challenging for the sector but any higher than 22% is likely to have a devastating economic and social impact on rural Ireland. The IFA is adamant that the ceiling for agriculture should be set no higher than an equivalent of a reduction in emissions of 22% compared with 2018 levels. The climate action plan provides a pathway to achieve a 22% emissions reduction through improved efficiencies and the adoption of new technologies and new practices. There is no pathway to a 30% emissions reduction that does not result in a significant reduction in cattle numbers at the level of individual farms. A 22% emissions reduction would recognise the technical challenges associated with the monitoring, reporting and verifying of emission reductions in agriculture, the timeframe required for the wide-scale adoption of new technologies, and the unique ability of the sector to sequester carbon and offset emissions through on-farm renewables that would support other sectors to meet their emissions reduction ceilings. The IFA report shows that an emission reduction of 22% could have very significant consequences for the sector with a need to reduce the numbers of livestock, even if the mitigation measures set out in the climate action plan are adopted. However, the consequences of a 30% reduction would be devastating, with a 12% reduction in livestock numbers, a drop of €3.8 million in output and a loss of more than 56,000 jobs, predominantly rural-based.

As set out in the Food Vision 2030 report, there must be a balance between economic, social and environmental sustainability. This is most important because we must ensure we protect our family farms and that, whatever happens, it will not lead to a reduction in our cattle numbers, because that would be devastating to the industry.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and accept the sincerity of the case he is making in respect of the climate action plan and the need to reduce emission ceilings. I think the Deputy agrees there is an overall need to create emission ceilings and to reduce emissions in all sectors of the economy, including agriculture. It is important the Irish Government supports the Irish agricultural industry. We also need balance in the debate and should consider words such as "devastating", "catastrophic" and so on. The dairy industry has grown exponentially over the past decade or so. It has been going extremely well since the removal of the milk quota. This year will be significant for the dairy side of the industry, given the global situation. That is the reality of where we are coming from. That is the base.

We are providing substantial funding. We recently announced a new and pioneering €1.5 billion agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, that will pay farmers up to €10,500 per farm, on average. There is funding for biodiversity, for example, and the introduction of results-based actions and the proposed ACRES will allow for qualitative payments for biodiversity, which is anticipated to reward high-quality habitats and support the delivery of improved outcomes from lower-quality habitats over time. The scheme will address water quality. There are farm sustainability planning processes. ACRES will target action in various areas, such as riparian margins, unharvested cereal margins, planting new hedgerows and trees, results-based low-input grassland, extensively grazed pasture and environmental management of arable fallow. It will also touch on climate measures around water quality and reducing chemical nitrogen usage. Actions to be taken through ACRES will include catch crops, low-input peat grassland and the planting of trees. All of that will make a significant contribution to the achievement of the agricultural measures under the land use change and forestry chapter of the climate action plan. A lot is being done and much investment is going into agriculture to assist the industry.

I agree with my colleague, Deputy Cahill, who has said we should have a specific technology fund to help agriculture, and farmers in particular, to adapt to new technologies that would also help in the reduction of emissions. That has to be worked out a bit more but it is an interesting idea that the Deputy has championed.

Deputy Healy-Rae is correct that there is work under way in respect of emission ceilings. In the coming weeks, sectoral emission ceilings will be established for the agricultural sector and all sectors, and that will give clarity to the sector. I understand where agricultural interests want the baseline to be and what level they want it set at. The Government's objective remains that, whatever the ceiling, it will allow for the sector to maintain food production in our beef, dairy, sheep and pig sectors.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, has been very consistent in this regard. I think the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, has approached this in a very balanced, effective way in terms of marrying the challenge of food security in the world with doing it as efficiently as we can from a carbon emissions perspective.