Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 July 2023
585. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which he remains satisfied regarding the future of the beef industry here, with particular reference to the need to reduce carbon emissions while at the same time ensuring the development of the industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35529/23]
View answerI am satisfied that the Irish beef sector is well positioned to balance future development with the need for reduced carbon emissions.
Beef farm enterprises contribute significantly to the economic sustainability and social fabric of rural areas. Food Vision 2030, the overarching agri-food strategy, contains several actions to guide stakeholder efforts in the sustainable development of the beef sector.
These include recognising the suckler herd as a key agricultural asset, supporting dairy calf-to-beef systems, and continuing to improve cattle breeding strategies by focusing on the contribution of genomics to environmental and economic efficiency.
Earlier this year, I announced the opening of vital new suckler and beef support schemes worth €265m. The Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme targets bovine emissions through enhanced use of genetics, genomics and performance metrics. It will improve the environmental and productive efficiency of the national suckler herd and enhance the reputation of Irish beef on the global stage. The National Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme will improve calf health and welfare while facilitating the further integration of the beef and dairy production systems. I also announced funding for a major genotyping programme for Irish cattle, run through a strategic public-private partnership model.
Irish beef exports continue to compete effectively in overseas markets. According to the CSO, Irish beef exports averaged over 500,000 tonnes in the period 2018 to 2022 and were worth, on average, €2.5 billion annually.
To continue ongoing collaboration with stakeholders, I established the Food Vision Beef and Sheepmeat Group last year to advance the actions identified in the overall strategy, taking account of the requirement for those sectors to contribute to achieving the targets set for agriculture emissions in the Climate Act process.
The group submitted its report on mitigating emissions from the sector in November 2022, which has been published on my Department’s website. The report identified direct and enabling measures which could contribute to reducing emissions. The publication was timely as it served to inform the Climate Action Plan 2023, which was published in December 2022, and its annex of actions published in March 2023.
Putting the beef sector on a more sustainable footing is a key priority of mine. Working collaboratively with relevant stakeholders and across government, I believe that we can build a more resilient beef sector for the current and future generations of farmers.
