Targeting peat exports of 500,000 tonnes a year could be a quick fix to help meet our climate targets, Eamon Ryan has said.

It comes as the environment minister also warned that if the Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) sector was unable to meet its emissions targets, other sectors, such as agriculture could be targeted to a greater degree.

Reports have emphasised the massive scale of change that will be required to occur in this sector if it is to meet its zero-emissions targets by 2050.

The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) yesterday confirmed its opposition to work conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on what sectors would need to do to meet net zero by 2050.

Tim Cullinan, IFA president, said: "It is not an exaggeration to say that this report realises farmers' worst fears and outlines scenarios without consideration for farmers, families and communities. Real sustainability is based on three pillars: economic, environmental and social."

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He said that if implemented, the report "would effectively wipe out communities outside of large urban centres".

He added: "I know of no other sector where businesses are being asked to revert to how they did things 30, 20 or even ten years ago and to sacrifice corresponding economic gains. Yet some in Irish society would like to see farmers returning to milking by hand, cultivating crops without machinery and changing some of the best ruminant grazing land in the world into unproductive areas.

"Let me be clear: this will not be allowed to happen. There will be an uprising in rural Ireland if the government were to do anything like this."

Minister Ryan was speaking at the Climate Action Committee yesterday, regarding the Climate Action Plan.

Alice Mary Higgins, an Independent senator, asked about how the LULUCF sector might take some "emergency measures" to help that sector meet its targets.

Ryan said: "One of the more immediate issues is that there is still some half a million tonnes of peat being exported annually, with no planning permission, with no regulation, with no oversight, and if we were looking at ways of storing [carbon] and reducing environmental damage that's being done at scale, that might be one of the areas we should focus on first."

Last year, up to November, some 3,120 tonnes of peat were exported to Japan. Australia is another big market for our peat.

While Ireland has clamped down on the burning of smoky fuels such as turf, there is no ban on exporting peat.

The EPA has taken several High Court actions against peat extraction firms in recent years. Last year it ordered four commercial peat extraction companies, who mainly supply the horticultural industry, to cease work after it won a High Court case against a similar business.

The EPA has warned that companies which refuse to stop extracting peat at large commercial sites could be prosecuted if they do not follow its instructions.

Last year, the EPA won what it called a landmark case against Harte Peat, a firm based in Co. Monaghan. The High Court agreed to grant an injunction restraining Harte Peat from extracting wet peat from areas of its midland bogs after finding its unregulated activities were a "material and significant" breach of EU environmental law.

Under existing rules, if an operator is working on a site over 50 hectares in size, it must seek a licence from the EPA to do so. In 2021, 48 inspections were conducted by the EPA across 14 operators in response to allegations of sites that were over 50 hectares in size, but did not have a licence to operate.

In a submission to the Oireachtas in 2021, a representative group for the sector acknowledged it was operating outside of the law.

A spokeswoman for the EPA confirmed that it was continuing to take cases against companies and individuals operating outside of the law.

Minister Ryan warned there could be "kickback" on other sectors if the land use sector was unable to meet its climate targets.

Fine Gael TD Richard Bruton had asked: "Will there be a washback onto the other sectors if it proves that we can't deliver?"

Minister Ryan responded: "It may have kickback on some of the other sectors or it may require rebalancing. It may have implications on agriculture, for example, or other such sectors for example.

"We would have to review it having done a lot of work scientifically in assessing what soil management and forestry plans and so on would deliver the further reductions we need. It is most difficult, but we don't have a choice under EU law or Irish law."