Minister for Climate Action Eamon Ryan and Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue are due to meet on Wednesday in a bid to reach agreement on the Government’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The high-stakes negotiations are seeking to agree a target for the agriculture sector to reduce its emissions in the period between now and 2030, and see the ambitions of the Green Party to make meaningful reductions to Ireland’s emissions pitted against the concerns of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil TDs to protect farmers from changes they fear would lead to turmoil in the industry.
For the Greens there is little point in being in government if they cannot deliver meaningful climate-action measures which comply with the now legal obligation to achieve a 50 per cent cut in greenhouse gases by 2030.
[ Ryan confident agriculture emissions deal will be struckOpens in new window ]
[ Farmers will take fair share of pain to reduce emissionsOpens in new window ]
But for Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil backbenchers, already suspicious of the Greens’ attitudes towards rural Ireland and under fierce pressure from Sinn Féin and Independents, having to defend emissions cuts about which farmers are protesting is an appalling vista.
The mood music around Government is cautiously optimistic that the two Ministers and their officials can come to an agreement before the end of the week. If a compromise can be reached in the coming days the three party leaders will approve it next Monday or Tuesday before bringing it to Cabinet on Wednesday of next week – the last Cabinet meeting before the August break.
Last year the Government agreed an indicative range of cuts in agricultural emissions between 22-30 per cent. Mr Ryan is pushing for a figure towards the higher 30 per cent range to be agreed, while Mr McConalogue warns that anything more than a 22 per cent cut would put significant pressure on farmers already struggling with higher costs and other difficulties.
The Greens have argued that failure to make the 30 per cent cut in agricultural emissions means that deeper cuts would have to be made in other areas, such as transport, an area for which Mr Ryan also has ministerial responsibility.
“If it’s only 22 per cent then you need to take a quarter of all cars off the road,” says one source, familiar with the negotiations. Another source warns that if the final deal is at 22 per cent or near it then it “makes the other targets implausible”.
Nonetheless, the Greens know that there are political constraints on what Mr McConalogue can agree to. The role of the farm organisations, especially the IFA, is “crucial”, says one insider, because many Government TDs will take their cue from the farmers’ representatives. The IFA has been lobbying TDs and Ministers hard to stick to 22 per cent – last week the organisation posted a photo on its Twitter account of a meeting with Minister for Justice Helen McEntee taking place in her kitchen.
Some Green sources are relaxed about the number for agriculture, insisting that the important thing is a pathway to the achievement of the big carbon budget number – the actual reduction in tonnes of greenhouse gas emitted in the coming years. But they also warn not to underestimate the importance pushing this through for the Greens. It’s the reason, they say, that the party went into government.
“There’s a heatwave and the backbenchers are out of Dublin,” says one insider. These are, the source says, two good reasons for a deal.
