There is no specific carbon tax planned for agriculture, according to the Department of Finance.

The Department is conducting a review of carbon-emitting sectors with the intention of creating a carbon tax for certain industries.

“While agriculture, as a component of the broader economy is one of these sectors, there are no agriculture specific measures contained within the terms of this review,” a spokesperson for the Department told the Irish Farmers Journal.

Last year, the Citizens’ Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of placing a carbon tax on agriculture. While the vote was non-binding, it sparked fears among the farming community that the suggestion may be taken up by the Government.

Agriculture has been repeatedly highlighted as an area of concern by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with one-third of Irish greenhouse gas emissions attributed to agriculture.

The expanding dairy herd in particular has been pointed out as an issue for carbon emissions, and the EPA has signalled that agriculture emissions are set to increase by up to 4% by 2020 and up to 7% by 2030.

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Carbon tax not planned for agriculture

There had been growing fears that a carbon tax would be applied to agriculture.