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

I thank Professor Seneviratne, and I will quote her.

My final question is for Dr. Aubert because he spoke a good deal about food production and diet. I am fascinated by this subject because I believe it is one of the biggest challenges we face. The witnesses took a look at the Irish agricultural sector, which is all about producing more cows for both beef and dairy production, and exporting them, interestingly, to places that traditionally never ate beef or dairy, such as the Middle East and China. The chief executive of Bord Bia, the Irish Food Board, boasted recently about going to China where they had a great time promoting the consumption of dairy products. In a world where climate change is happening, it is obscene that we would promote the consumption of more dairy and meat, particularly in terms of health. How do the witnesses view the role of the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, either in terms of intervening or having a discourse with those in the Irish agriculture sector on the way they do their business and the need for joined-up thinking in our Government, which needs to tell the agricultural sector to stop producing more cows and more food in the manner in which it has been? Have they looked at a policy area that might help to do something about this problem?