Farmers will be changing some of their procedures and practices under the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Change’s report recommendations which prompted unanimous support for the declaration of a climate emergency, and renewed urgency on the issue of climate change.
This was noted by proposer of the motion deputy Timmy Dooley today, Friday, May 10.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1’s Morning Ireland this morning, the Fianna Fáil climate action spokesperson said:
“Declarations on their own are of little use; what was welcome about last night’s declaration is that it got cross-party support so people support the principle within the houses of the Oireachtas.
“There’s a lot of work being done between the Department of Agriculture, farming interests and Teagasc, and the farm advisory board.
“There’s a lot of work being done and they will bring forward a plan – and I’m hopeful that that will be accepted across the board.
They will be changing some of their procedures and practices – and that’s why, if you look to the report, it talks a lot about anaerobic digestion, which is taking the slurry material from farms; converting it into a gas to be used as energy.
“That’s one particular area where we can make much better use of the energy source that’s there and have an impact on the reduction of CO2.”
Commenting on why only six TDs were present at the time of the vote, deputy Dooley said that there wasn’t expected to be a vote, and there was a wide acceptance of the principles behind it.