Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue took questions in the Dáil this morning (Thursday, July 14), where he had an exchange on agricultural emissions with People Before Profit/Solidarity TD Paul Murphy.
Murphy claimed that the minister was “lobbying within government on behalf of big agribusinesses to have the lowest possible emissions cuts within the biggest emitting sector”.
He was referring to the sectoral emissions ceilings under the Climate Action Plan, which will be decided on for each sector in the coming weeks.
The agriculture sector will have to cut its emissions by between 22% to 30% by 2030, with a more specific figure soon to be decided on.
In response to Murphy’s line of questioning, Minister McConalogue remarked to the Dublin southwest deputy: “I know agriculture and the day-to-day lives of farm families is not something that would occupy your daily workload or time very much, but it is important to look at the important role that agriculture plays in food production.”
The minister also noted that Ireland “doesn’t have the same industrial base that other industrial countries have, [so] agriculture makes up a bigger proportion of our national emissions as a result”.
He highlighted: “Reaching that 22% would see transformational change to agriculture systems. Our starting point is one where we’re one of the most efficient food producers in the world, in terms of how we produce that food, being grass-based and pasture-based.
“That’s something we have to build on and improve on further, like all sectors of society. It’s really important, deputy Murphy, that we do that in a way that continues to produce the food, because across the world it’s becoming increasingly hard to produce food.”
Minister McConalogue also accused Murphy of conflating farm families with “big agribusiness”.
Murphy then accused the minister of incentivising an “industrialised farm system”, which the TD said “doesn’t work for ordinary families”.
He said:
“So instead of incentivising and pushing farmers to engage in industrialised farming; that doesn’t work for small farmers; is extremely damaging to the environment; and that doesn’t work for society as a whole, why don’t we have a farming policy based on food sovereignty, regenerative farming and paying farmers for carbon sequestration?”
The minister didn’t hold back in his response, saying: “It’s your industrialised farming model. You’re the only one that uses that language. We have a family farming model in this country, which frankly you don’t have a bull’s notion about in terms of understanding it.
“It’s based on work that farm families do right across the country. Those throughout the food supply chain then try to maximise the value of that,” he added.
“In terms of my engagement at government level, I’m seeking to strike the appropriate balance between doing everything we possibly can to reduce the emissions footprint of how we produce the food, but to continue that really important work of producing really sustainable, healthy and nutritious food in this country,” Minister McConalogue commented.