Green Party members have suggested they could walk away from Government if Coalition leaders do not agree a deal on emissions targets for agriculture at the higher level.
Coalition leaders met for a third time on Wednesday in a bid to make a decision somewhere between 22-30%. It’s understood talks resumed on Wednesday evening between Coalition partners.
Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said he was “hopeful” Coalition leaders could agree on a deal on emissions targets for agriculture but that “nothing is certain yet.”
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Sources said they were “trying their damnedest,” to end talks and come to an agreement “where all sides are satisfied with.”
However, it won’t come as a surprise if a decision is not made until September as Government Chief Whip Jack Chambers suggested a pause may be required on talks for additional time and space.
Green Party Senator Pauline O’Reilly said it is time for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael “to show their true colours” when it comes to emission targets and “not greenwash”.
When asked on RTE radio if the issue of lower emission targets for agriculture was worth leaving government, she said she did not think the Green Party could “put up” with figures as low as 22% or 23% as, at the end of the day “agriculture is unsustainable in Ireland at current levels”.
She said: “At the end of the day this can’t wait, we need to stop talking, we need to agree on a target and get on with the action that’s required.”
A Green Party source told the Irish Mirror that they expected Minister Ryan not to “buckle” on the higher end of the target while a second source said “a meeting would have to be had if an unacceptable figure was decided.”
Speaking on his way into the last Cabinet meeting until September, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said Ireland has to play its part with the "ultimate challenge" being in reconciling food supply with climate change.
He said: “So the Government would obviously like to see agreement on this but there are challenges, it is not easy, but we are determined to get this resolved and suffice to say that all sectors of society and all sectors of our economy including agriculture will have to make that contribution. And then, once we set targets, focus will have to switch on delivery.”
Fianna Fáil TD Barry Cowen said it would be "best for all concerned" if a decision on carbon emission targets for the agriculture sector was deferred until the Autumn.
Mr Cowen told RTÉ News that the Green Party "needs to understand we want to bring farmers, their representatives and the industry with us - not kicking and screaming but united with clear, achievable goals.”
He added: "It might be best for all concerned for a decision ultimately to come in autumn, when our respective parties can participate and take greater ownership of any solution that has the backing of three parties."
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