Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue has insisted that no cows will be culled as part of the Government’s new plans to tackle climate change.
It comes as Government sources told the Irish Mirror that suggestions that the national herd could be culled by 10% are “complete boll**ks”.
It was reported in the Irish Times on Monday morning that as part of the new Climate Action Plan, which will go to Cabinet on Wednesday, would propose cutting cow numbers by 10%.
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However, senior cabinet sources have rubbished the rumours.
They suggested that there may have been crossed wires as there is a plan to cut methane by 10%. This does not, however, mean that cows will be culled.
Another senior cabinet source said that the report in the newspaper was not fully accurate.
This was echoed by Minister McConalogue in a statement to the Irish Mirror.
“The agri-food sector is committed to reducing our emissions over the course of the decade by 25%,” he said.
“Our focus is on ensuring that agriculture continues to be a world-class producer of food while we step out our climate ambitions.
“We are finalising the details of the Climate Action Plan where we outline how we continue on the journey of being the sustainable food capital of the world.
“There will be no measure in the Climate Action Plan that will be forced upon farmers. All measures will be voluntary and aimed at supporting our farmers to continue to produce world-class food while also diversifying income streams through tillage, energy generation and forestry.
“I am committed to delivering on the three pillars of sustainability in agriculture – environmental, societal and, crucially, economic.
“Separately, through the Food Vision 2030 group which I established and published its report in 2021, the sector has already committed to a 10% reduction in methane by 2030. This does not directly correlate to a 10% reduction in numbers."
Separately, the Irish Mirror understands that the Climate Action Plan will not call for a 20% reduction in cars on the road by 2030. Instead, there will be a plan to reduce the number of kilometre travelled by cars by 20% and an ongoing focus on moving people to public transport.
The Cabinet sub-committee will meet to discuss the plans on Tuesday before the final plan goes to Cabinet on Wednesday.
When asked about the 10% cut to the herd and the 20% cut for transport by RTÉ’s Morning Ireland on Monday, Climate Minister Eamon Ryan said that he could not confirm them as he “didn’t know where they came from”.
“There is a real change in both those sectors,” he said.
“Each sector has a different level of ambition. Agriculture probably the lowest at 25% cut this decade, transport a 50% cut, energy some 75%.
“There needs to be a dramatic change in each area.
“What people in agriculture and farmers are most concerned about is what is the income. How do we protect family farms? That is what we’re focusing on.
“How do you protect and create new income streams to get a new generation of young people into farming and forestry?”
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