The Agriculture Minister has denied the reopening of Irish beef to China will in turn make it harder for Ireland to hit its climate targets from the European Union.
By 2030, Ireland must reduce its emissions by 50% or face fines, while in that there are plans to reduce agricultural emissions by 25%.
Speaking on Today FM's The Last Word this evening, Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue said today's announcement means, "another market that we now have to try and maximize the value of what we're producing.
"So the key thing for family farms is obviously continuing to produce the food we have, but looking to maximize the value of the work that's ongoing and obviously in producing that food.
"The various measures that farmers are taking at the moment are, are already putting us on the journey toward reducing emissions.
When pushed on the issue of emissions and how farmers could meet the demand of the Chinese market without increasing the national herd, Minister McConalogue said:
"There's no plan in this to increase our output.
"What we have is another market opportunity and another market, um, um, option, which is really important."
The Chinese market had been closed in May 2020 due to what the government says was an "isolated case" of BSE, also known as mad-cow disease.
Irish beef exports to China began in 2018.
It's believed the market is worth around €100 million to Irish farmers.
