Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I wish to comment on that. Dr. O'Neill talked about funding and fiscal space but there are also the political decisions that are made to facilitate the big for-profit industries, such as the beef industry I mentioned. I am not talking about the ordinary farmer with five cows going up a lane, but big ranchers who engage in the production of beef on a massive scale for export. The export of such food is causing a major problem for our country's carbon emissions. There must be economic thinking which states that we must move away from growing more animals to growing other types of food to feed people.

The reason is chiefly relevant from an environmental point of view, but it is also relevant from a health point of view. There needs to be joined-up thinking about the way we use our land. The reports to me to date do not suggest any wonderful thinking about how we should use our land in future to reduce emissions.