The Irish government is misleading the public about levels of greenhouse gas emissions from the nation’s cows, according to An Taisce - The National Trust for Ireland.

As the country's dairy herd has grown in recent years, emissions of climate change-inducing gases from the livestock have also increased.

In April, agriculture minister Michael Creed told Irish parliament: “in the five-year period 2012-2016, dairy cow numbers have increased by 22 per cent and corresponding milk production by 27 percent while emissions increased just 8 per cent, demonstrating a level of decoupling is occurring.”

His point was echoed by other senior officials and ministers in the agriculture department, each indicating that while milk production had been increasing substantially, emission increases had remained low.

Data collected by the Irish Environment Protection Agency (EPA) refutes these claims – suggesting the increase in emissions from dairy cows has closely matched the increase in both animals and milk volume.

As cow numbers and milk production went up by 22 and 27 per cent respectively over a four year period ending in 2016, emissions from dairy shot up by 24 per cent.

When An Taisce learned of these statements, the organisation asked Mr Creed to formally correct government records to recognise the error, the investigative news website DeSmogUK reported.

Mr Creed acknowledged that the claim of “just 8 per cent” is based on agriculture as a whole, so reflected the fact that while the dairy sector has been rapidly expanding, other sectors have been contracting.

The minister stated it is “valid to consider the sector as a whole in presenting this data”.

10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke – filled with the carbon that is driving climate change – drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. “Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals,” says the photographer. “Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow.” Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a “public health emergency”. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan

An Taisce described this response as “simply indefensible”.

“It seems the minister is now willing to mislead the Dáil [Irish parliament] and the public, even when called out. This is unacceptable,” it said. “We now publicly call on the minister to correct the Dáil record as a matter of urgency”.

Ireland’s dairy industry has been in the spotlight due to the disproportionately large contribution Irish agriculture makes to emissions compared to the rest of Europe.

Overall agriculture contributes to a third of the country’s total greenhouse gas output, and is the single largest contributor across Ireland.

Cows play a major role in agricultural emissions due to the large volumes of methane they emit as microbes in their guts process and ferment high fibre foods.

Irish farming organisations and politicians have called for research into seaweeds and other specialist feeds that can reduce the quantity of methane emitted by cows.

However, such actions may not be enough to help Ireland meet its climate targets. EPA projections suggest the nation is on track to reduce carbon emissions by only 1 per cent by 2020, instead of the 20 per cent target set by the EU.

Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar has admitted that he is “not proud of Ireland’s performance” on climate, but agricultural emissions are continuing their steady rise as the national dairy herd increases in size.