Professor John Sweeney:

Mr. Coghlan has dealt with the energy issue and many of the arguments are quite similar in the case of agriculture. It is very important that we also have a just transition in agriculture.

With regard to suggestions, we have seen the renegotiation of the Common Agricultural Policy, where our negotiators were putting the stress almost exclusively on Pillar 1, the single farm payment, and not emphasising enough the Commission's proposals under Pillar 2 which were in very admirable areas such as rural development, having an ecological focus and so on. These are the very areas where a just transition will be required, especially in the west. If we think of where forestry can go in Ireland, we will not grow huge forests on the very rich soils in the east or in ecologically sensitive upland peatland areas. The real target areas will be the wet soils in the west. Therefore, we must have a just transition. We must ensure people will not be disadvantaged by the policies we are making elsewhere.

We must look at the way in which we can support smaller farmers, beef farmers, if necessary, but particularly farmers who have an important role to play in keeping rural communities together. This is something for which the Common Agricultural Policy was designed originally; perhaps we have lost a bit of vision in that sense. Let us look at how we can reward farmers who look after biodiversity. We could reward farmers who look after flood control. These are the areas that can enable the fabric of rural society in the west, with which I am quite familiar, to be held together much better in this transition. We must not go down the road of simply encouraging a monoculture ethos, with a single farm payment and nothing else, leading to intensification and all of the consequences, not just for our emissions but also for the quality of waters and so on. We can do it if we make those choices and encourage our negotiators to do so. Who knows what is their brief currently when they attend the sessions either on climate change or agriculture? We could encourage them to prioritise the just transition mentality.