Ms Emer Ó Siochrú:

I am dying to inform the committee that I am a beef farmer in north Tipperary. It is not the case that there is a complete split between the two sides, as it were. I farm organically and intend to expand my beef production. There is a general erroneous belief that environmentalists oppose beef production. The position is much more nuanced than that. Ireland is one of the best places to produce beef and dairy products in the world. With the right kind of grassland practices and using carbon sequestration in the soil, beef farming can be carbon negative, particularly when new practices are used.

Under Food Harvest 2020, it is proposed to increase dairy production by 50% and beef production by 20%. These objectives can be achieved, provided the right technologies are used. We have to produce food because the number of people on the planet will increase. Ireland is a good food producer and food production generates many jobs and protects the environment. Moreover, the country produces food in an environmentally sensitive manner. Co-ordination is required with other Departments and sectors, however, as there is no co-ordination on the waste side.

Anaerobic digestion is necessary if we really want to ramp up production. There are other technologies also, one of which is the focus of my new business, to allow safe slurry spreading, which is the fundamental issue. It is a perfect example in which many environmentalists are dying to get involved and have much to contribute, instead of seeing us as being on the opposite side. In fact, we have more to gain-----