A joint report has been released by two Irish government committees which calls on the European Union (EU) to agree that forest carbon sinks can be used to offset carbon emissions.

The report by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Climate Change and Energy Security and the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Food said that the EU should bring forward a directive detailing the creation of a national forest offset scheme.

It also stated that the link between forestry, land use and farming should all be recognised in EU climate change policy, as they "are all part of the same climate equation".

Andrew Doyle, TD, rapporteur and author of the submission, said: "For Ireland to meet its climate change obligations it is essential that its forestry sector is part of any solution."

Mr Doyle added that this would also allow Ireland to develop a forestry sector that would "put it on par with its European counterparts".

Figures given to the EU Commission by the country's Environmental Protection Agency show that companies in Ireland covered by the Emissions Trading Scheme had a 15 percent reduction in emissions in 2009 due to the economic downturn.