IFA ‘ambush’ Environment Minister on emissions

‘There will be a heap of jobs affected by this’ - Canavan

IFA REPRESENTATIVES had to “ambush” the Minister for the Environment last week, as he has refused to meet with them for the past six months to discuss the proposed emissions target.

It is expected that the Cabinet will decide this week whether the cut to greenhouse gas emissions will be set at 22 or 30 per cent.

The Green Party are said to be pushing for a 30 per cent reduction rate, a decision that has the potential to cause severe damage to the Irish farming sector, in terms of production and jobs.

Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan, and Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity Pippa Hackett, were in Gurteen Agricultural College in Tipperary meeting local farm representation groups, young farmers and students, when IFA representatives spoke with them.

“We basically had to ambush that seminar. Imagine, the Minister for the Environment has refused to meet with the IFA for the last six months about the emissions cuts,” said Galway IFA Chairman Stephen Canavan, who was in Gurteen along with Galway IFA’s other National Council representative John Finn, and Paul O’Brien from Kilkenny, the Chairman of the IFA’s Environment and Rural Affairs Committee..

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