Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses and thank them for their presentation. In her opening statement Ms McCormack said it is an exciting time to be in the food and farming sector, although she was fully aware that it does not feel that way, and that we all need to work together to make farming a compelling choice. Will she expand further on that disconnect, where she sees the potential and considers it exciting yet she is very much aware that it does not feel that way for many practitioners?

This touches on the overall issue of how the production and agrifood sector, as opposed to the primary producer, has gone from strength to strength in recent years. It has been one of the big success stories of our economy. Exports have increased from approximately €7 billion six years ago to €12 billion today. It is a massive increase and it is continuing to go in that direction. However, the primary producers who are doing the farming have not felt that. They continue to feel more pressure and to become more squeezed. How do we get the benefits of innovation and technology to them and make that work at farm level? It is certainly working and making an impact at the enterprise, business and production levels, but the issue is how to make that work at farm level across the various sectors.

Dairying has been powering ahead in recent years and much has been happening. Although it is a difficult sector in terms of inputs, time and so forth for those involved, there is a profit margin in it even if it can be volatile. How can we make units in the beef, sheep and tillage sectors viable? By and large there tend to be smaller units in those sectors. I am interested in hearing the witnesses' perspective on farm size and how that feeds into the use of technology and more innovative practices.

With regard to climate change and our climate change goals, I realise the witnesses' speciality is research but we are now part of an international agreement where our production methods are not necessarily recognised as being as efficient as those in other member states. What are the witnesses' views, as researchers and innovators, on the practicality of the climate change targets in respect of leading to more effective and efficient agriculture in terms of carbon leakage and not being able to ensure we can make the most from new practices? Also, what are their views on anaerobic digestion and the potential for using it? It is far more developed in Northern Ireland. Do they see a bigger role for that? Can it be a more significant part of the agri-economy?