This week Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed and his Government colleagues carried off the tricky task of announcing tax and cost increases for every family in the country – without provoking a yellow vest bloodbath.

Much of the Climate Action Plan will take effect in the future – and will therefore be some other government’s problem.

The plan, overseen by Minister for Climate Action and Environment Richard Bruton, stressed that measures to cut emissions from agriculture will be paid for out of the next CAP – that’s politicians spending farmers’ own money.

The country’s lobby groups, including the main farm bodies, have held their fire on the plan.

Attention will soon turn to the various boards that will oversee implementation – to see who can be lobbied

They know there will be plenty of battles ahead on funding for carbon reduction.

For now, the IFA’s committees will discuss the plan and a position will be taken at the next national executive meeting on 9 July.

Attention will soon turn to the various boards that will oversee implementation – to see who can be lobbied.

Steering the ship from the top will be a Climate Action Delivery Board of senior civil servants from the Department of An Taoiseach, helped by Minister Bruton’s officials.

Only the highest levels of political reach will give any outside influence on this board

It will collect quarterly progress reports from all other Departments – and rap knuckles. Brendan Gleeson and his officials in the Department of Agriculture will hope for a few friendly fellow civil servants on this board. Only the highest levels of political reach will give any outside influence on this board.

More approachable for IFA and others will be the standing Oireachtas committee on climate action. The current committee has members with an understanding of agriculture including Pat Deering, chair of the Oireachtas agriculture committee, Fianna Fáil senator and competitive ploughman Paul Daly and senator Ian Marhshall, cattle farmer and former president of the UFU.

Finally, a revised Climate Action Council of economic and environmental experts will be established, to advise politicians on five-yearly carbon budgets. Again, membership will be important.

The current one includes some steady hands, Teagasc director Prof Gerry Boyle and agricultural economist Prof Alan Matthews.