A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Climate has ended, with no final agreement on the target for agricultural emissions reduction.
However, all sides remain hopeful that agreement can be reached by the end of this week.
The meeting was described as "constructive" and further engagement is due to take place over the coming days.
Those attending the meeting included Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue and the leaders of the three coalition parties, Micheál Martin, Leo Varadkar and Eamon Ryan.
Under the Government's Climate Action Plan, which was published last year, the agriculture sector was told it would be obliged to reduce its emissions by between 22% to 30%.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, agriculture emissions in Ireland increased by 3% in 2021, driven by increased fertiliser use (up 5.2%) and a 2.8% increase in the number of dairy cows.
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that methane is responsible for almost half of the approximately 1.1 degrees of global warming.
Earlier, the chairperson of the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee, Jackie Cahill, said that lowering carbon emissions by 22% "will be a difficult task" for farmers.
Speaking to RTÉ's Today with Philip Boucher Hayes, Mr Cahill said that herd reduction is "not an option", adding that he was unhappy with what he heard from the Department of Environment and the Department of Agriculture when they met the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee last Wednesday.
"I was extremely disappointed with both departments about their preparedness to get emissions reduced from agriculture. There is no signpost in place as to how this is going to be done by the agri-food sector and farmers.
"We have to invest and we have to embrace new technology," the Tipperary-based Fianna Fáil TD said.
"I'm not a climate denier. I accept we have to adapt our practices. Climate change is there for all to see and yes, we can do it in this country but we need time.
"These targets were set in 2018. We have moved very little in the investment that's required to achieve these targets.
"I’ll be impressing on the (finance) minister and the Taoiseach that when the budget is announced in September that we need a separate budget that will allow all sectors to get grant incentives".
Mr Cahill also said there was buy-in from the farming community to meet the 22% target but it would be a "difficult" task.
Earlier, a group of prominent Fine Gael TDs and senators warned that "finger-pointing" runs the risk of tarnishing Ireland's reputation as one of the world's most sustainable producers of quality food.
The group, which includes TDs John Paul Phelan, David Stanton, Charlie Flanagan and Paul Kehoe, along with Senators John Cummins and Garret Ahearn, issued a statement as Government talks aimed at agreeing carbon emission reductions intensify.
Mr Phelan, Fine Gael TD for Carlow-Kilkenny, told RTÉ's News At One that farmers have shown in the past that they can change their practices.
"But lecturing them, finger pointing at them, badgering them, blaming them for everything is not a way to bring any sector of society with you.
"Nobody can get away scot free. There has to be cuts across the board".
Green TD says party not unfairly blaming farmers
Speaking on the same programme, Limerick-based Green TD Brian Leddin said his party is not unfairly blaming farmers for increasing their carbon footprint.
"We certainly aren't pointing the finger at farmers. What we need to do is protect farmers' incomes and the livelihoods of farm families.
"What we need to address is the emissions in the agricultural sector and they are nearly 40% of our overall emissions."
He added: "They have been increasing steeply in the last number of years particularly since the milk quota was removed in 2014.
"Agriculture absolutely is the largest emitting sector in Ireland. It’s scarcely credible that if the highest emitting sector has the lowest burden that we will be able to meet our climate targets."
Mr Leddin said Ireland needs to make a "serious and honest reduction" in emissions in agriculture.
Patrick Costello, Green Party TD for Dublin South Central, has said that the introduction of the Climate Action Act was one of the key policies of this Government, and received cross-party support in the Oireachtas.
He said a clear answer is needed about which sectors will "take up the shortfall" if agriculture is given lower emissions targets.
Mr Costello also said that it was "perplexing and disappointing" for some Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael TDs to voice opposition to measures which they voted for in the Dáil.
30% reduction 'within capability of agriculture'
Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore has said that a 30% reduction in emissions "should be within the capability of agriculture."
Speaking to RTÉ's Drivetime, Ms Whitmore said: "The numbers aren't being plucked out of the air. They're actually based on science."
She said that the sector needs to be supported to achieve this and the Government needs to "work with farmers to put that roadmap in place".
Meanwhile, the Irish Farmers' Association said farmers must be recognised for the contributions they are making to reducing emissions from other sectors.
IFA President Tim Cullinan said: "The reality is that in addition to a legally binding target of 22%, farmers will also be contributing to reducing emissions from other sectors."
The 2021 Climate Action Plan shows that while the expansion of Anaerobic Digestion (AD) will reduce farming emissions by between 100,000 and 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, it will actually deliver a reduction of 400,000 tonnes for the energy sector, he added.
"Other measures such as forestry and carbon farming are currently counted in the Land Use and Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) sector and not towards reducing agricultural emissions."
