Dr. Alex Copland:

I thank the Senator for her question. She mentioned the value of hedges in the Common Agricultural Policy. Hedges provide very much for biodiversity, for carbon sequestration and for the management and interception of water flow in regulation of water, which is hugely important. One point that strikes me is that Ireland, through Food Wise 2025 and its Origin Green programme, is promoting itself as being a sustainable agricultural economy and leading the way. I was very surprised yesterday to hear just how poorly Ireland is performing regarding its emissions and that it is one of the worse performing countries in Europe.