Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for missing parts of the presentations. Picking up on a point Deputy Neville made in respect of reshaping agriculture, we had officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine before the committee in the past week or so. There is a research organisation within that Department whose projections are for carbon emissions to remain the same or to increase despite mitigation measures. Is that being mirrored elsewhere? It is very aspirational to say we will change dietary intake in society; it would take centuries, not decades. Can the witnesses correct me on that? Could they give examples of how societies have changed their dietary requirements? How does that fit into dairy and meat consumption? Is there any evidence of a transition to increased processed food consumption in certain societies where the poorer groups could be more reliant on food that is not fresh or that is processed? A shorter supply chain is obviously healthier. How does that fit into the societal context in terms of health? We could flip dietary requirements and increase the cost of dairy and meat but that could have a deeper impact on poorer people in society. I am interested in a policy sense in how we transition towards what is the right aspiration for the environment. The Taoiseach is on record as saying we are behind relative to most of the other European countries. Can the witnesses pick an example of smaller economies that are showing excellent leadership? How can we innovate and be leaders in this area?