Dairy Industry Ireland (DII) is seeking “appropriate supports” from the Government to finance the dairy sector in its efforts to reduce emissions.

The call came after the Government published its updated Climate Action Plan for 2023 on Wednesday, stating that the Food Vision reports will be “mobilised”.

The industry group’s director, Conor Mulvihill, maintains that the dairy sector is out in front when it comes to climate policy in having the Food Vision dairy group report published.

The report lays out the first provisional roadmap that any sector of the economy has put forward to bring itself into line with climate obligations, Mulvihill claimed.

“The publication of the report signifies dairy as the first sector of the Irish economy to draft a plan to address its climate obligations with Government and regulators, and also became the first dairy sector internationally with such a plan,” he commented.

The processor body went on to look for further detail on the actual monies and schemes that will be rolled out as part of the Climate Action Plan.

It sought these details on both the farmer- and processor-facing elements of the plan.

“The industry and its family farm suppliers have been driving programmes for some time. It has further ambitious programmes set out for the next decade and wishes to be integral to Ireland’s climate and economic journey.

“However, to achieve this, clear funding and policy mechanisms to help farmers and the processing industry meet these targets must be set out urgently by Government,” Mulvihill said.

DII stated that the dairy industry is implementing changes at processor level to meet changing consumer preferences and environmental requirements.

It added that “clarity and fairness on targets, funding and carbon accounting treatments are a critical start to this journey.”