Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA)

Background

The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) is a farm lobby group representing milk producers in Ireland.

The ICSMA has described itself as โ€œthe family farm organisationโ€.1โ€œHistory of the ICMSA,โ€ Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, 2024. Archived October 24, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/WYHIh It was founded in 1950 โ€œto organise creamery milk suppliers throughout the country and to safeguard their interestsโ€ in response to government plans to cut milk prices.2โ€œHistory of the ICMSA,โ€ Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, 2024. Archived October 24, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/WYHIh

The ICMSA has claimed to organise farmers on an โ€œentirely non-political and non-sectarian basisโ€ and to lobby on behalf of all dairy and livestock farmers on the EU, local and national levels.3โ€œAbout ICMSA,โ€ Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association. Archived February 24, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/5yEj2 Headquartered in Limerick, Ireland, it claims around 16,000 members, organised in 72 areas by branch, counties, and regions.4โ€œHistory of the ICMSA,โ€ Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, 2024. Archived October 24, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/WYHIh

The ICMSA has consistently lobbied against the inclusion of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions reductions or regulation in national climate goals. For example, the ICMSA lobbied against the 2011 Climate Bill,5John Gibbons. โ€œDenial and self-interested delusion on Climate Bill,โ€ ThinkOrSwim Blog. Archived June 30, 2016. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/DkhSn and has opposed effective limits or carbon taxes on agricultural emissions.6โ€œICMSA Submission to the Joint Committee on Climate Change,โ€ Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, December 12, 2018. Archived February 27, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/kXdSw

The ICMSA has acknowledged that โ€œmethane is our biggest contributor to GHG emissions and is a direct consequence of increased cattle numbersโ€. At the same time, it has focused on stabilising methane emissions at around the current level.7โ€œICMSA say โ€˜drill-downโ€™ into EPA Report shows progress made,โ€ Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, October 30, 2019. Archived August 11, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/bA8aM

Between 2010 and 2022, total dairy cow emissions of methane, the potent greenhouse gas, increased by 64 percent, alongside an extraordinary 67 percent rise in Irish milk production.8โ€œAgriculture_2022_WEM-EPA-Ireland-2024.xlsx,โ€ [GHG Inventory, Excel spreadsheet] Environmental Protection Agency, Ireland. August 2024. Archived February 27, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/0q4gK

The ICMSA has also opposed changes to Irelandโ€™s exemption from the EU Nitrates Directive, which aims to limit the livestock sectorโ€™s substantial contribution to water pollution.9โ€œCompliance with the Nitrates Directive and Implications for Ireland: Discussion (Resumed),โ€ Joint Committee on Agriculture, May 29, 2024. Archived June 20, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/RZNCn

In September 2024, the ICMSA was among six groups that launched a coordinated lobbying push,10โ€œRetaining Irelandโ€™s Nitrates Derogation โ€“ Common Objectives โ€“ A Joint Declaration from Farm Organisations, Co-operatives and the Dairy and Meat Processors,โ€ Irish Farmers Association, September 16, 2024. Archived September 18, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/wJpIQ issuing a joint declaration lobbying for retention of the countryโ€™s derogation from the EU Nitrates Directive, which allows farmers to use additional nitrogen fertiliser in slurry and chemical form.11โ€œRetaining Irelandโ€™s Nitrates Derogation Common Objectives: A Joint Declaration from Farm Organisations, Co-operatives and the Dairy and Meat Processors,โ€ Irish Farmers Association, Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, Irish Co-operative Organisation Society, Dairy Industry Ireland, Meat Industry Ireland, Macra, September, 2024. Archived September 18, 2024. Archive URL https://archive.ph/njG9v

The ICMSA has promoted meat and dairy agriculture products as sustainable and its industry as beneficial to Irelandโ€™s economy, despite extensive evidence of the sectorโ€™s climate and pollution failings.12Fran McNulty. โ€œThe climate cost of Irelandโ€™s dairy boom,โ€ RTร‰, July 10, 2023. Archived July 10, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/FVeCv The agri-food industry accounted for just eight percent of Irelandโ€™s GDP in 2024,13โ€œIrish Sector Profiles,โ€ Bord Bia, Irish Food Board, 2025. Archived February 28, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/HRSXD with milk products making up only about 0.7 percent of gross export value.14โ€œThe Atlas of Economic Complexity: Ireland Export Basket in 2022 โ€“ Gross Exports,โ€ Harvard Growth Lab, 2025. Archived February 28, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/wr8Mcย 

Milk production in Ireland exploded since the abolishment of EU milk quotas in 2015 (dipping slightly in 2023 after a highly profitable year for dairy farmers in 2022).15โ€œIreland sees 37% drop in number of liquid milk producers,โ€ Irish Co-operative Organisation Society, 2024. Archived August 20, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/PVagW Between 1990 and 2023, the Irish livestock sector accounted for 38 percent of national GHG emissions16โ€œIrelandโ€™s Provisional Greenhouse Gas Emissions 1990-2023,โ€ Environmental Protection Agency Ireland, July 2024. Archived July 9, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/kf3rB and 99 percent of ammonia air pollution.17โ€œIrelandโ€™s Air Pollutant Emissions 1990-2030 May 2024,โ€ Environmental Protection Agency Ireland, 2024. Archived May 13, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/CYE7Z Nitrate and phosphate nutrient losses from the livestock sector have been the largest contributor to water body pollution.18โ€œWater Quality in 2023,โ€ Environmental Protection Agency Ireland, 2024. Archived June 12, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/vRwjB

Stance on Climate Change

The ICMSA has acknowledged the importance of tackling climate change and the impact of climate-related extreme weather events on farming.19โ€œICMSA Submission to the Joint Committee on Climate Change,โ€ Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, December 12, 2018. Archived February 27, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/kXdSw

However, the ICMSA has also said that mitigation policies โ€œshould not undermine food productionโ€, and has frequently cited efficiency improvement and carbon sequestration as tools to reduce the agriculture sectorโ€™s climate impact.20โ€œEnvironment,โ€ Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association. Archived February 1, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/7VOqv

In 2021 the European Court of Auditors presented evidence that efficiency measures had so far failed to cut emissions, and that Ireland had seen โ€œsubstantialโ€ increases due to its growing livestock herd.21โ€œCommon Agricultural Policy and climate: Half of EU climate spending but farm emissions are not decreasing,โ€ European Court of Auditors, June, 2021. Archived June 21, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/YihLR

The IPCC have stated that โ€œlimiting climate change will require substantial and sustained reductions of all greenhouse gas emissionsโ€,22IPCC. โ€œClimate Change 2013 The Physical Science Basis,โ€ Working Group I contribution to the IPCCโ€™s Fifth Assessment, 2013. Archived December 26, 2018. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/f1UHQ including methane. Irish dairy expansion since 2010 has instead increased agricultural methane emissions.23Paul Price. โ€œAgricultural Methane in Irish Climate Action: greenhouse gas metrics, methane mitigation, and related quantification of livestock numbers,โ€ An Taisce, June, 2024. Archived 18 June, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/gYDaQ

Agricultureโ€™s ability to sequester carbon on a timescale long enough to address climate change has been refuted by academic research.24Joe Fassler. โ€œResearch Undermines Claims that Soil Carbon Can Offset Livestock Emissions,โ€ DeSmog, February 1, 2024.

In March 2024, ICMSA President Denis Drennan spoke to Gript (a socially conservative Irish news website) about government plans to focus more on climate action in the school curriculum.25โ€œMedia Ownership Monitor Ireland, 2023,โ€ Gript, 2023. Archived June 21, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/6bKph He said that โ€œICMSA accepts the reality of climate change and our responsibility โ€“ along with everyone else โ€“ to step up and meet the challengeโ€.26Ben Scallan. โ€œICMSA hits out at โ€œbiasedโ€ Leaving Cert climate curriculum plan,โ€ Gript, March 19, 2024. Archived March 19, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/SAOzZ

However, he added that โ€œwe object completely to the kind of baseless and groundless discourse that has farmers โ€“ and farmers alone โ€“ as the โ€˜environmental baddiesโ€™, while everyone else is absolved of the need to do anything meaningful that might discomfort or inconvenience themselvesโ€.

Scientists from Irelandโ€™s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have strongly critiqued Irish agricultureโ€™s negative environmental impacts. In June 2021 Sharon Finegan, the EPAโ€™s director of environmental sustainability, told the parliamentary Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Climate Action that the growth of Irish agriculture was โ€œhappening at the expense of the environment, as evident by trends in emissions, water quality and biodiversity all going in the wrong directionโ€.27Kayle Crosson. โ€œEPA: significant โ€œstep changeโ€ needed for Irish agriculture,โ€ Green News Ireland, June 29, 2021. Archived June 29, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/ltjLr

Noting that agriculture was on course to account for 40 percent of total Irish emissions by 2030, Finegan added that โ€œbusiness as usual scenarios will not reverse these trends. New measures must go beyond improving efficiencies by focusing on reducing total emissions by breaking the link between animal numbers, fertiliser use and deteriorated water qualityโ€. 

Finnegan called for “a significant step-change in what is done” in all sectors, including agriculture, and suggested “that direct payments [from the EU to farmers] be linked to land use” to “encourage increased ambition”.

September 2024

The ICMSA was among six farm lobby and meat and dairy processor groups that issued a statement28โ€œRetaining Irelandโ€™s Nitrates Derogation โ€“ Common Objectives โ€“ A Joint Declaration from Farm Organisations, Co-operatives and the Dairy and Meat Processors,โ€ Irish Farmers Association, September 16, 2024. Archived September 18, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/wJpIQ and associated document29โ€œRetaining Irelandโ€™s Nitrates Derogation โ€“ Common Objectives: A Joint Declaration from Farm Organisations, Co-operatives and the Dairy and Meat Processors,โ€ Irish Farmers Association, Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, Irish Co-operative Organisation Society, Dairy Industry Ireland, Meat Industry Ireland, and Macra, September 2024. Archived September 23, 2024. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. in a campaign against the removal of Irelandโ€™s nitrates derogation. The exemption allows selected farmers to spread more nitrates than is normally allowed under EU law, subject to specific environmental checks.

The statement โ€“ which was also supported by Dairy Industry Ireland (DII), Meat Industry Ireland (MII), the Irish Farmers Association (IFA), Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS), and Macra โ€“ warned of โ€œwidespread negative economic consequences for Irelandโ€™s rural economyโ€.

It did not appear to address concerns about the negative impact of agriculture on water and air due to nitrate and phosphate losses from Irelandโ€™s livestock sector, which has been โ€œthe most dominant significant pressure on water qualityโ€.30โ€œUpdate on pressures impacting on water quality,โ€ Environmental Protection Agency Ireland, May 2024. Archived June 17, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/8MwkA Ireland is just one of just five EU member states to have recently held derogations from the directive. (For more detail, see DeSmogโ€™s background note on the EU Nitrates Directive).

November 2021

Then-ICMSA President Pat McCormack criticised the Irish Governmentโ€™s 2021 Climate Action Plan. The governmentโ€™s plan set out a framework to achieve a 22 to 27 percent reduction in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and a major reduction in chemical nitrogen fertiliser use by 2030.31โ€œClimate Action Plan,โ€ Government of Ireland, January 8, 2024. Archived May 2, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/zsGaBย 

McCormack said, โ€œThere’s a huge challenge for our industry and how we arrive at the reductions without cutting the [cattle] herdโ€.32Angela Symons and Thomas Blade. โ€œIrish farmers could be forced to kill livestock to meet climate targets, say industry experts,โ€ Euronews, August 31, 2022. Archived August 31, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.is/nPYqp

Although the Annex of Actions for the plan did not list mandatory reductions in cattle numbers as a method for reducing emissions,33โ€œCLIMATE ACTION PLAN 2021 Annex of Actions,โ€ Government of Ireland, 2021.ย Archived December 22, 2021. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. it did target a major reduction in nitrogen use. Such a potential reduction does imply a reduction in cattle numbers, given Irish agricultureโ€™s strong dependence on nitrogen fertiliser to grow grass to feed cattle.34David Wall. โ€œChallenges and opportunities for environmentally sustainable nutrient use, in: Fertiliser Association of Ireland Proceedings 2019,โ€ Fertiliser Association of Ireland, February, 2019. Archived September 27, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/IVVRC

McCormack later noted that a reduction in herd numbers would be inevitable even if it was not compulsory, saying, โ€œWe see them culling through the back door [โ€ฆ] through the nitrates regulationโ€.35Angela Symons and Thomas Blade. โ€œIrish farmers could be forced to kill livestock to meet climate targets, say industry experts,โ€ Euronews, August 31, 2022. Archived August 31, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.is/nPYqp He was referring to the potential removal of Irelandโ€™s derogation from compliance with the EUโ€™s Nitrates Directive, its water quality protection regulation.36โ€œNitrates: Protecting waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources,โ€ European Commission, 2024. Archived July 6, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/ejdti

Immediately prior to publication of the 2021 plan, the Irish Farmers Journal released a report from consultancy KPMG,37โ€œIn full: the KPMG economic impact report on cutting emissions on farming,โ€ Irish Farmers Journal, October 28, 2021. Archived April 13, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/buS1n claiming that reductions of up to 1.3 million cattle were needed to reach Irelandโ€™s emissions reduction targets. Taoiseach Micheรกl Martin described the report as โ€œscaremongeringโ€, according to The Guardian.38Lisa Oโ€™Carroll. โ€œIreland would need to cull up to 1.3 million cattle to reach climate targets,โ€ The Guardian, November 3, 2021. Archived March 19, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/yl099

McCormack described the report as โ€œa valid attempt to quantify the certain disastrous economic impact on farming and the wider rural economy of over-simpli๏ฌed and restrictive environmental measuresโ€.39Pat Oโ€™Toole. โ€œFarm Leaders Have Their Say on the CCAC and KPMG Reports,โ€ Irish Farmers Journal, November 3, 2021. Archived March 21, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/CAtcs

The KPMG report did confirm that substantial reductions in dairy and beef cattle would result in substantial reductions in emissions. Notably, the โ€œeconomic analysis processโ€ in the report failed to assess increases in tillage or horticulture production that would offset reduced milk and livestock production.40โ€œIn full: the KPMG economic impact report on cutting emissions on farming,โ€ Irish Farmers Journal, October 28, 2021. Archived April 13, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/buS1n

February 2021

The ICMSA picked up on comments by Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue, who warned it would be โ€œvery, very challenging to reduce emissions overall if the herd size increasedโ€.41Caitrรญona Morrissey. โ€œโ€˜Mature discussionโ€™ needed on dairy herd expansion โ€“ McConalogue,โ€ Irish Farmers Journal, January 28, 2021. Archived March 3, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/nXidv

ICMSA then-President Pat McCormack responded in the Irish Farmers Journal by saying that โ€œany logical answer to that conundrum has to start from the obvious logic of locating milk production in regions where it is most carbon efficient and, in the case of milk, that meant Irelandโ€. 

He said the ministerโ€™s comments โ€œavoid[ed] the core question of how we reconcile the reduction of carbon emissions with a growing global populationโ€.42Caitrรญona Morrissey. โ€œCarbon efficiency of Irish milk must be accounted for โ€“ ICMSA,โ€ Irish Farmers Journal, February 3, 2021. Archived February 28, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/ELMpI

However, scientific research has confirmed that meeting stringent global climate change targets while feeding the growing global population can likely only be achieved through widespread adoption of plant-rich diets, which would greatly decrease projected food emissions relative to animal-derived food.43Michael A. Clark et al. โ€œGlobal food system emissions could preclude achieving the 1.5ยฐ and 2ยฐC climate change targets,โ€ Science, November 6, 2020. Archived on March 28, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/qPFzo

The claim that Ireland produces the โ€œmost efficientโ€ dairy stems from a 2010 study conducted by the EU Joint Research Centre using data from 2004.44Adrian Leip et al. โ€œEvaluation of the livestock sectorโ€™s contribution to the EU greenhouse gas emissions,โ€ European Union Joint Research Centre, November 30, 2010. Archived March 29, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.is/Knofk The studyโ€™s assumptions about land use and carbon sequestration are now regarded as obsolete.45Sophie Kevany. โ€œWhereโ€™s the beef? Outdated data leads to uncertainty on way forward,โ€ The Irish Times, May 28, 2020. Archived May 28, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.is/nA5gN

June 2019

The ICMSA criticised Irelandโ€™s climate targets for agriculture in a submission to the Governmentโ€™s 2019 Draft National Risk Assessment, claiming that they posed an existential risk to the rural economy.46โ€œSubmission to the Department of An Taoiseach on the Draft National Risk Assessment 2019,โ€ ICMSA, June, 2019. Archived October 15, 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

In the submission, the ICMSA also emphasized efforts to improve the carbon footprint of milk by reducing the emissions intensity per kilogram of milk production in Ireland. 

Evidence shows efficiency gains have been eclipsed by the high herd numbers in Ireland. Methane emissions from cattle overall have increased by 20 percent due to a 67 percent increase in milk production from 2010 to 2021.47Paul Price. โ€œAgricultural Methane in Irish Climate Action: greenhouse gas metrics, methane mitigation, and related quantification of livestock numbers,โ€ An Taisce, June, 2024. Archived 18 June, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/gYDaQ

December 2018

In a submission to Irelandโ€™s Joint Committee on Climate Change and Energy Security, the ICMSA opposed a tax on agricultural greenhouse gases that claimed Ireland has one of the worldโ€™s โ€œmost carbon efficientโ€ farming systems. The submission claimed that a carbon tax was โ€œshort-sightedโ€ and โ€œhas the potential to have a disastrous effect on our sectorโ€.48โ€œICMSA Submission to the Joint Committee on Climate Change,โ€ Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, December 12, 2018. Archived February 27, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/kXdSw

The group was responding to Irelandโ€™s April 2018 Citizensโ€™ Assembly report on climate change, which strongly endorsed a tax on greenhouse gases emitted by farms and called for rewards for farm carbon sequestration. The report also recommended that farmland be used not only for rearing cattle for beef and dairy, for example for forests and organic farming.49โ€œThird Report and Recommendations: Climate Change,โ€ Citizensโ€™ Assembly, 2018. Archived June 9, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/cwDnG

The claim that Ireland produces the โ€œmost efficientโ€ dairy stems from a 2010 study conducted by the EU Joint Research Centre using data from 2004,50Adrian Leip et al. โ€œEvaluation of the livestock sectorโ€™s contribution to the EU greenhouse gas emissions,โ€ European Union Joint Research Centre, November 30, 2010. Archived March 29, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.is/Knofk whose assumptions about land use and carbon sequestration are now regarded as obsolete.51Sophie Kevany. โ€œWhereโ€™s the beef? Outdated data leads to uncertainty on way forward,โ€ The Irish Times, May 28, 2020. Archived May 28, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.is/nA5gN

Another peer-reviewed study conducted in 2010, which used the same data but adjusted the land use and carbon sequestration assumptions, found that Irelandโ€™s dairy milk carbon footprint was substantially higher than the EU average and was the fourth worst overall โ€“ about 60 percent higher than Denmarkโ€™s, which was the most efficient.52J.P. Lesschen et al. โ€œGreenhouse gas emission profiles of European livestock sectors,โ€ Animal Feed Science and Technology, June 23, 2011. Archived April 23, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/QbMyF

November 2017

The ICMSA and other farming organisations strongly criticised a recommendation to extend carbon taxes to agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. ICMSA then-President John Comer said that any such tax would be โ€œcompletely illogicalโ€ with respect to increasing global food demand, and would have a severely negative impact on farms.53Sylvester Phelan. โ€˜โ€œHypocrisyโ€: Farming Groups Give Cutting Retort to Citizensโ€™ Assembly Proposalsโ€™,โ€ Agriland, November 6, 2017. Archived November 8, 2017. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/ka5DZ

Agricultural economist Professor Alan Matthews made the recommendation in a presentation to the Citizensโ€™ Assembly on Climate Change. He said that โ€œunless we seriously attempt to get that curve of agricultural emissions, not just flatlining, but moving down, we are not seriously talking about a position of climate leadershipโ€.54โ€œIf Ireland Was a Leader in Tackling Climate Change – Agriculture/ Land Use Policy,โ€ Youtube video uploaded by user The Citizensโ€™ Assembly, November 4, 2017. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

Matthews told the Citizensโ€™ Assembly that placing a tax on agricultural emissions, including methane and nitrous oxide, would be the most practical and fairest way to ensure that the sector would meet its targets, and it would ensure that farmers included the cost of emissions in deciding how much to produce in terms of crops, livestock or milk.55Alan Matthews.โ€โ€˜If Ireland Was a Leader in Tackling Climate Change What Would Agriculture / Land Use Policy Look like in Ireland?,โ€ The Citizensโ€™ Assembly, November 4, 2017. Archived November 7, 2017. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Experts have proposed taxes on agriculture emissions56Daniel Murray. โ€œLack of carbon tax in agriculture is a โ€˜problemโ€™,โ€ Business Post, November 23, 2021. Archived October 12, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/wBfdM and on nitrogen fertiliser57Stuart Meikle. โ€œA Nitrogen Tax for Agriculture? | ARC2020,โ€ Agricultural and Rural Convention, January 30, 2018. Archived November 6, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/gulIi as important potential regulatory policies to limit climate and pollution impacts from livestock agriculture.

According to a March 2024 paper, which surveyed more than 200 environmental and agricultural scientists, global emissions from meat and dairy production need to decline by 50 percent during the next six years, with โ€œhigh-producing and consuming nationsโ€ taking the lead, to align with the goals of the Paris Agreement.58Fran McNulty. โ€œThe climate cost of Irelandโ€™s dairy boom,โ€ RTร‰, July 10, 2023. Archived July 10, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/FVeCv

Key Actions

July 2024

ICMSAโ€™s then-President Denis Drennan falsely claimed that a year-on-year reduction in agricultural emissions had been achieved โ€œin spite of โ€“ rather than because of โ€“ any meaningful Government supportโ€.

Drennan made his comments in response to an EPA report showing a year-on-year reduction in agricultural emissions in 2023. However, EU and Irish policy do not include carbon taxes or production quota limits on agriculture.59Alan Matthews. โ€œIntroducing a tax on agricultural GHG emissions? The Danish case,โ€ CAP Reform Blog, April 30, 2024. Archived May 20, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/m96Jc

Since 2012, Irish policy to reduce agricultural GHGs has primarily relied on farmers voluntarily adopting efficiency measures,60โ€œTeagasc Climate Action Strategy 2022-2030,โ€ Teagasc, November, 2022. Archived March 21, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/YzQwu but total emissions have risen instead of falling as required.

In addition to European farm payments, the 2024 Irish Government budget included โ€œOver โ‚ฌ700m for agri-environment initiatives (climate, biodiversity & water quality)โ€ and continued tax breaks from excise and carbon taxes on farm diesel.61โ€œ2024 Budget Report,โ€ Irish Farmers Association, October 10, 2023. Archived October 14, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/8eWxm

Earlier in 2024, in contradiction of his later statement, Drennan said that a decline in milk production in 2023 was down to โ€œa number of factorsโ€ including low milk prices, extremely difficult weather conditions and new nitrates restrictions established by the European Commission.62Ruud Peys. โ€œIrish milk production is in sharp decline,โ€ Dairy Global, January 30, 2024. Archived February 27, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/XIyXB

December 1, 2023

In a press release, then-ICMSA President Pat McCormack welcomed the decision of the European Parliament and Council to exclude cattle farms from new EU rules governing industrial farm emissions.63โ€œICMSA welcome EU exclusion of farming from โ€˜Industrial Installationsโ€™ for emissions purposes,โ€ Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, December 1, 2023. Archived December 2, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/573cD

According to the post, McCormack said โ€œit was vital that what he described as โ€˜the tideโ€™ of anti-farmer and extreme environmentalism was challenged before that final decision was takenโ€.

The European Environmental Bureau, an environmental civil society organization, said the new directive โ€œmaintains protection for the polluting status quoโ€.64Maria Simon Arboleas. โ€œCiaoโ€ cows: Cattle excluded from EUโ€™s industrial emissions cut plan,โ€ Euractiv, November 30, 2023. Archived December 1, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.is/lTkfO

November 17, 2023 

At an ICMSA annual general meeting, then-President Pat McCormack hit back at comments by then Green Party leader and environment minister, Eamon Ryan, about working โ€œby consensusโ€ to tackle climate change.

In response, McCormack said the Government was โ€œenjoying hindering and obstructing farmersโ€ producing milk, by supporting a cull of dairy cows to reduce carbon emissions.65David Raleigh. โ€œGreen Party leader Eamon Ryan says dairy farms โ€˜not the villainsโ€™ in climate crisis,โ€ Breaking News, November 17, 2011. Archived November 17, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.is/g16PM

He added: โ€œAnd when they (the Government) canโ€™t be seen to be doing that themselves, they stand by cheerleading while others in their โ€˜petโ€™ NGOs do the dirty work for themโ€. 

February 3, 2022

ICMSA then-President Pat McCormack pushed back on a possible cap on dairy farm production to meet national climate goals.

Speaking after a meeting with Irelandโ€™s Minister for Agriculture, McCormack said: โ€œWeโ€™re the only sector that already has an emissions lowering plan thatโ€™s โ€˜up and goingโ€™. The Teagasc MACC curve and new technologies are already showing how agriculture can meet its climate commitments โ€“ and new technologies will accelerate that progressโ€.66Dan Dooner. โ€œICMSA cannot accept cap on dairy,โ€ Roscommon People, February 3, 2022. Archived August 17, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.is/dQfjE

He added: โ€œThe Government is about to make a decision that will damage the single most important positive economic activity in most rural areas of Irelandโ€.

The so-called โ€œMarginal Abatement Cost Curveโ€ (MACC) approach by state agency Teagasc aims to rank the relative cost effectiveness of different measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the agriculture and land use sectors.67Barry McMullin and Paul Price. โ€œSynthesis of Literature and Preliminary Modelling Relevant to Society-wide Scenarios for Effective Climate Change Mitigation in Ireland,โ€ Environmental Protection Agency, November, 2020. Archived August 9, 2021. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

However, an EPA research report in 2020 noted that MACC analysis methods have been โ€œstrongly critiquedโ€ in academic literature, and that these flaws are โ€œoften overlookedโ€ in policy use. The report noted that dairy and beef farming was responsible for over 90 percent of Irish methane and nitrous oxide GHG emissions, and its overall expansion had driven the substantial rise in agricultural emissions since 2010.

2022 โ€“ Carbon Budgets and Sectoral Emissions Ceilings

The ICMSA lobbied to weaken targets contained in the July 2021 amended Climate Act, which stipulated that Irelandโ€™s parliament (the Oireachtas) must set legally binding five-year carbon budgets to direct climate action. To meet these budgets, the Act required the Government to set out constituent five year โ€œsectoral emission ceilingsโ€ for different economic sectors, including agriculture.68โ€œClimate Action and Low Carbon Development (amendment) Act 2021 (as Approved),โ€ Government of Ireland, 2021. Archived January 22, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.is/ScDtZ

โ€œSectoral emission ceilingsโ€ is a term for the maximum tonnes of CO2 equivalent gases (CO2e) that can be emitted over a five year period by agriculture and different sectors of the economy as laid out by the Irish Governmentโ€™s legally binding carbon budgets.

The Governmentโ€™s Climate Action Plan had initially suggested a range for agriculture emission reductions of 22 to 30 percent by 2030, in response to the amended Climate Act in November 2021.69Rachel Martin. โ€œGovernment sets out plans for 22-30% reduction in farming emissions,โ€ Irish Examiner, February 20, 2021. Archived November 4, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.is/UnQTy

Prior to the final decision, the ICMSA warned in a 21 July press release that even a 22 percent reduction would be โ€œhugely challengingโ€ for the agriculture sector โ€“ but that it could be โ€œrealistic and achievable if the Government puts in place appropriate supports which it has completely failed to do to dateโ€.70โ€œDemonisation of Agriculture Needs to Stop,โ€ Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, July 21, 2022. Archived July 21, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.is/jLcbA

On July 28, 2022, the Government had announced it would be introducing a 25 percent reduction in agricultural total emissions by 2030 relative to 2018.71Rory Carroll. โ€œIreland targets 25% cut in agriculture emissions but farmers voice anger,โ€ The Guardian, July 29, 2022. Archived July 29, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/51L42

In response, then-President Pat McCormack criticised in an ICSMA press release the โ€œwholly negative and predictable economic, social and demographic consequences for the massive areas of the state that depended on farming and food production and represented a โ€˜sell-outโ€™ of our family farm modelโ€.72โ€œICMSA say increased ask on emissions from farmers moves โ€˜Difficultโ€™ to โ€˜Impossibleโ€™ selling out family farms,โ€ Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, July 28, 2022. Archived July 28, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.is/ZjKUs

McCormack continued: โ€œTodayโ€™s decision will be presented as a win for the extreme environmental element in Government, it would transpire to be a PR stunt and pointless over-reach that would inflict incalculable harm to long-term ambitions for lower emissions and sustainabilityโ€.

By contrast, Marie Donnelly, Chair of Irelandโ€™s Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) described the Governmentโ€™s Sectoral Emission Ceilings decision as โ€œproblematicโ€.73Marie Donnelly. โ€œCCAC Chairโ€™s statement on sectoral emission targets,โ€ Climate Change Advisory Council, July 20, 2022. Archived July 29, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.is/72tho

According to Donellyโ€™s statement, the emissions ceilings also did not meet the requirements of the amended Climate Act, being insufficient to meet the carbon budgets to 2030 agreed by the Oireachtas, and excluding five-year emissions ceilings for the Land Use Sector.

2022 Food Vision Dairy Group report

In response to EPA reporting showing increasing negative climate and pollution impacts from livestock farming,74โ€œThe overall quality of Irelandโ€™s environment is not what it should be, and the outlook is not optimistic unless we accelerate action,โ€ Environmental Protection Agency, November 24, 2020. Archived October 17, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/zM3gg Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue established separate โ€œFood Visionโ€ stakeholder groups โ€“ for dairy, livestock, and arable (known as โ€œtillageโ€ in Ireland) โ€“ to consider how best to reduce the sectorโ€™s greenhouse gas emissions and nutrient pollution.75Joe Mag Raollaigh. โ€œA year in agriculture that couldnโ€™t have been predicted,โ€ RTร‰, December 28, 2022. Archived January 5, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/uoWHW

The Food Vision dairy groupโ€™s final report, published on October 25, stated that the ICMSA had not endorsed its proposals, which included a plan to reduce chemical nitrogen use in the dairy sector by 2025 and more by 2030, and a voluntary exit/reduction scheme to reduce dairy herd numbers.76โ€œReport Of Food Vision Dairy Group On Measures To Mitigate Greenhouse Gas Emissions From The Dairy Sector,โ€ Government of Ireland, October 25, 2022. Archived March 15, 2023. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog

This report stated that the ICSMA would not support the reportโ€™s mitigation proposals โ€œbased on a number of concerns including, the impact of the proposed [reduction in] Nitrogen usage on farm incomes, and the absence of a clear commitment on financial support and compensation for income losses that will be sufferedโ€.

Scientists have repeatedly pointed out the serious climate and air and water pollution costs of Irelandโ€™s dairy boom, noting that fertiliser-driven grass-fed milk production is profitable but relatively inefficient, with high methane emissions and nitrogen losses per kilogram of milk. 

Led by industry and policy, the growing Irish dairy sectorexpansion targeted the end of the EU milk quota limit in 2015, which had previously steadily reduced emissions and pollution up to its relaxation from 2010 onward.

2022 Food Vision Beef and Sheep Group report

The release of the Governmentโ€™s 2021 Food Vision policy also led to the formation of a beef and sheep stakeholder group to assess options to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, which published a final report on November 30.77โ€œFinal Report on the Food Vision Beef & Sheep Group to Mitigate GHG emissions from the Beef Sector,โ€ Government of Ireland, November 30, 2022. Archived March 15, 2023. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

This report stated that the ICMSA had not endorsed its proposals for voluntary herd reduction and had raised objections on plans to reduce the chemical nitrogen. Regarding other measures the ICSMA had called for โ€œa significant increase in the level of funding to support farmers implementing the measures and in supporting the integration of dairy and beef systemsโ€.

March 2022

Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE), an environmental NGO, applied for a judicial review of the Governmentโ€™s Food Vision 2030 agri-food strategy, saying it โ€œundermines our international and national commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissionsโ€.78Orla Dwyer. โ€œEnvironmental Group Granted Leave to Challenge Governmentโ€™s Agri-Food Strategy,โ€ The Journal, March 1, 2022. Archived March 1, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/sGnOu

Commenting on the NGOโ€™s legal challenge, ICMSA President Pat McCormack said: โ€œThe kind of attitudes and latitude afforded unelected and unaccountable bodies like Friends of the Irish Environment was not helping win the support of farmers for Government policy and FIE would have to be told โ€˜bluntlyโ€™ that the national policy had now been decidedโ€.79โ€œICMSA demand to know whoโ€™s setting the National Climate Strategy: Government or environmental quangos?,โ€ Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, March 2, 2022. Archived March 2, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/anu3P

Notably, such commentary against environmental NGOs had been critiqued a few weeks previously by Aurel Ciobanu-Dordea, a senior European Commission governance official who said that โ€œa particular concern for us is the increasingly aggressive stance being taken against environmental campaigners in Irelandโ€, citing โ€œnegative reporting of actions by Friends of the Irish Environmentโ€.80Kevin Oโ€™Sullivan. โ€œEU official castigates Government over environmental court costs,โ€ The Irish Times, January 21, 2022. Archived January 21, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/hR8Sv

He added: โ€œWe believe radical change of behaviour is necessary, because it is highly unusual for an advanced society like Ireland to witness such conductsโ€.

May 2021

Jackie Cahill, a former President of the ICMSA and former Chair of the parliamentary agriculture committee, publicly supported planning permission for a new Glanbia cheese plant in Kilkenny, which was being subjected to a court challenge by the NGO An Taisce.81Brian Mahon. โ€œTDs backing Kilkenny cheese factory hold shares in Glanbia,โ€ The Times, May 14, 2021. Archived August 30, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/3W8vg

April 2019 

The ICMSA supported the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) when it made an accusation that An Taisce โ€” the National Trust of Ireland โ€” had wrongly included dietary advice on eating less meat and dairy in an educational resource pack, stating: โ€œThis document must be withdrawn immediatelyโ€. Pat McCormack, ICMSA President, described it as “anti-dairy and anti-livestock”.82Sylvester Phelan. โ€œAn Taisce programme slammed for โ€œanti-livestock ethos,โ€ Agriland, April 4, 2019. Archived July 16, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.is/4gHnt

An Taisce did not withdraw the resource. A spokesperson described the farm group criticism as โ€œhystericalโ€, noting that the online teacher resource did not include dietary recommendations but focused on educational material around climate change in line with best practice internationally.

The Minister for Climate Action and Environment, Richard Bruton, said the An Taisce information pack, produced by the publicly funded Green Schools initiative, was a positive resource โ€œto stimulate a discussion in the classroom. It wasnโ€™t something being recommended to be adopted. That is something to be encouraged, not to be censoredโ€.83Sorcha Pollak and Brian Hutton. โ€œIFA reaction to schools guide โ€˜hystericalโ€™, says An Taisce,โ€ The Irish Times. April 5, 2019. Archived April 6, 2019. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/ICypu

2017-2018 โ€“ Citizensโ€™ Assembly report

In April 2018, the Third Report and Recommendations of the Citizensโ€™ Assembly on climate change made two recommendations directly relevant to dairy and livestock production.84โ€œThird Report and Recommendations: Climate Change,โ€ The Citizensโ€™ Assembly, April 18, 2018. Archived June 9, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/cwDnG

Following engagement with experts including agriculture specialists, the assemblyโ€™s randomly chosen Irish citizens endorsed a tax on greenhouse gases emitted by farms and โ€œrewards for the farmer for land management that sequesters carbonโ€. 

It also called on the Government to โ€œreview and revise supports for land use diversification with attention to support for planting forests and encouraging organic farmingโ€.

In November 2017, ICMSA President John Comer described the Citizensโ€™ Assemblyโ€™s vote, overwhelmingly in favour of a tax on greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, as โ€œludicrousโ€.85Darren Mahon. โ€œICMSA hits out at โ€˜ludicrousโ€™ tax on greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture,โ€ OceanFM, November 6, 2017. Archived February 27, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/sXV9n

Alongside similar strong critiques by other farm organisations, Comer condemned such a tax as โ€œcompletely illogicalโ€, saying the โ€œproposals should be rejected outrightโ€ as they conveniently ignored the โ€œinconvenient truthโ€ of increasing food demand to meet global population growth and Ireland being a climate-efficient food producer.86Sylvester Phelan. โ€œHypocrisyโ€: Farming groups give cutting retort to Citizensโ€™ Assembly proposals,โ€ Agriland, November 6, 2017. Archived November 8, 2017. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/ka5DZ

Experts have proposed taxes on agriculture emissions87Daniel Murray. โ€œLack of carbon tax in agriculture is a โ€˜problemโ€™,โ€ Business Post, November 23, 2021. Archived October 12, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/wBfdM and on nitrogen fertiliser88Stuart Meikle. โ€œA Nitrogen Tax for Agriculture? | ARC2020,โ€ Agricultural and Rural Convention, January 30, 2018. Archived November 6, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/gulIi as important potential regulatory policies to limit climate and pollution impacts from livestock agriculture.

According to a March 2024 paper, which surveyed more than 200 environmental and agricultural scientists, global emissions from meat and dairy production need to decline by 50 percent during the next six years, with โ€œhigh-producing and consuming nationsโ€ taking the lead, to align with the goals of the Paris Agreement.89Fran McNulty. โ€œThe climate cost of Irelandโ€™s dairy boom,โ€ RTร‰, July 10, 2023. Archived July 10, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/FVeCvย 

2010 Climate Bill 

The ICMSA strongly opposed90โ€œSearch: Return submit date: From 01 Jan 2015; Public Policy Area: Agriculture, Food, Environment,โ€ Lobbying.ie, August 6, 2024. Archived August 6, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/XBCte the Irish Governmentโ€™s 2010 Climate Change Response Bill, alongside other prominent agri-food industry lobby groups including the Irish Farmersโ€™ Association and Irelandโ€™s largest business group, Ibec, which includes dairy and meat processors.91Paul Wagner and Tuomas Ylรค-Anttila. โ€œWho got their way? Advocacy coalitions and the Irish climate change law,โ€ Environmental Politics, April 3, 2018. Archived April 3, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/zaYC9ย 

In January 2011, The Irish Examiner reported that the ICMSA and other farm groups had โ€œwritten to TDs and senators asking them to oppose the bill on the basis that the proposed clampdown on carbon emissions goes beyond EU requirements, adding unnecessary costs that would hamper the export ambitions of the food sectorโ€.92Joe Dermody. โ€œHigh pressure in air as farm groups lobby against Climate Change Bill,โ€ Irish Examiner, January 15, 2011. Archived April 20, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yxttz

By February 2011, the bill had been dropped, following the agri-food group opposition, including the ICMSA, and given the economic and political crises underway at the time.93Tara Connolly. โ€œA Climate Bill Post-Mortem,โ€ ThinkOrSwim, February 11, 2011. Archived August 6, 2016. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/42R3L

Funding

The ICMSA is funded through membership dues. Milk processors agree to deduct 0.15 percent of the value of milk supplied each month and send this amount directly to the association.94โ€œICMSA Membership Form,โ€ Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, 2024. Archived May 30, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.is/JJT00

Following the 2015 IFA salary controversy,95Jerome Reilly. โ€œArrogance and hubris behind IFA pay scandal,โ€ Irish Independent, November 29, 2015. Archived March 5, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/Y4129 ICMSA then-President John Comer confirmed that he received an annual allowance of 50,000 euros, which he said went towards paying a farm manager while he was away on business.96Richard Halleron. โ€œICMSA President declares his salary in wake of IFA salaries controversy,โ€ Agriland, December 1, 2015. Archived December 8, 2015. Archive URL: https://archive.is/qUmiT

Lobbying

The ICMSA has stated that it โ€œrepresents farmer interests on many committees and bodiesโ€ within Ireland, including Teagasc, Ornua, Bord Bia, the National Dairy Council, the Employment Appeals Tribunal, and the Monitoring Committees on Rural Development.97โ€œAbout ICMSA,โ€ Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association. Archived February 26, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/5yEj2

The ICMSA has been Irelandโ€™s fourth most active lobbyist on agriculture, food, and the environment since records began in 2015.98โ€œSearch: Return submit date: From 01 Jan 2015; Public Policy Area: Agriculture, Food, Environment,โ€ Lobbying.ie, August 6, 2024. Archived August 6, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/XBCte

The ICMSA spent โ‚ฌ500,000 – โ‚ฌ599,999 on lobbying in the EU in 2021 and in 2022, with the equivalent of 6.75 full-time lobbyists. ICMSA lobbyists have attended 12 high-level European Commission meetings since 2014.99โ€œDatacard: Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association,โ€ LobbyFacts.eu. Archived February 27, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/eBSTx

In March 2024, following the resignation of Taoiseach (prime minister) and Fine Gael party leader Leo Varadkar, ICMSA then-President Denis Drennan said he was โ€œalways available to meet the farm organisationsโ€ while in office.100Charles Oโ€™Donnell. โ€œICMSA hopes for โ€œchange of directionโ€ with new Taoiseach,โ€ Agriland, March 20, 2024. Archived March 20, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/5DqBY Drennan added: โ€œWe always had an annual meeting with him and he would have attended our AGM (annual general meeting) on numerous occasionsโ€.

In February 2024, the ICMSA appeared before the Oireachtas (parliamentary) Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine to state strong concerns regarding the negative economic and social effects on dairy farmers if a potential further decrease to the allowed Nitrates Directive derogation level.101โ€œICMSA Opening Statement to the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine on the Nitrates Regulations in Ireland,โ€ Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, February 14, 2024. Archived January 17, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/H57Jt

Also in February 2024, a magazine-style insert entitled โ€œThe Climate Callโ€ was distributed by the National Dairy Council (a farmer-funded body) in newspapers nationally.102โ€œThe Climate Call, 2024,โ€ National Dairy Council Ireland, February, 2024. Archived February 29, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/0Bifh NDC members are milk processor co-operative limited companies, but the ICMSA President sits on its board.103โ€œOur Board,โ€ National Dairy Council Ireland, February 29, 2024. Archived August 7, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.is/HqFtr

According to research published in 2020 by Declan Fahy, an associate professor at Dublin City Universityโ€™s School of Communications, Irish farmers and their representative organisations, including the Irish Farmers Association and ICMSA, have โ€œwielded great political influenceโ€ on the agricultural policies of successive Governments through their lobbying efforts.104Declan Fahy. โ€œEcological Modernisation, Irish-Style: Explaining Irelandโ€™s Slow Transition to Low-Carbon Society,โ€ Ireland and the Climate Crisis, 2020. Palgrave Macmillan.

Affiliations

The ICMSA is a member of the European Milk Board (EMB), which it has described as “Europeโ€™s fastest growing specialist dairy farmer umbrella organizationโ€.105โ€œStructure of the ICMSA,โ€ Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, 2024. Archived December 10, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.is/rV3vD The EMB represents about 100,000 milk producers across 16 European countries, and lobbies to ensure that the โ€œmilk price [received by farmers] covers the average milk production costsโ€.106โ€œAbout EMB,โ€ European Milk Board, 2024. Archived April 6, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.is/BxrgW

There have been several attempts to merge the ICMSA and the Irish Farmers Association (IFA), which have reportedly failed due to โ€œpersonal and organisational tensionsโ€.107Darren Halpin (2005). Surviving global change? agricultural interest groups in comparative perspective, London, England and New York, USA. Routledge.

The ICMSA is a member of Animal Health Ireland (AHI) alongside several Irish government and state agencies, farm representative organizations, milk and meat processors, advisory support services, and artificial insemination companies. As per its 2021 annual report, AHI is a not-for-profit, public-private partnership between private-sector organizations and businesses in the agri-food sector.108โ€œAnnual Report 2021,โ€ Animal Health Ireland, 2022. Archived May 30, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.is/fO40O

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