Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Professor Boyle. He described some collaborations with the education sector through institutes of technology and University College Dublin. Is there a defined role for Teagasc in the development of technological universities? To what extent has Teagasc been consulted? Would its participation be more on an ad hocbasis, depending on the particular alliance of colleges involved?

With regard to the various education programmes and courses Teagasc rolls out for young farmers, including the green certificate, does Professor Boyle feel there is more it could do on issues pertaining to climate change? As has been mentioned, we visited the BEACON bioeconomy research centre at UCD, which is encouraging and exciting. There is so much potential and, clearly, technology will keep coming at us.

Another issue that regularly pops up here is that of the weak position of the farmer in the food supply chain. There has been a European-wide consultation on this and measures will be taken particularly vis-à-vismultiple retailers but no solution has been implemented yet. How do we help our farmers add value to their products? We have seen the case of the mushroom farmers with whom UCD is working and the development of plastic as a byproduct from dairy. How will farmers benefit from this so they are not always crying? This is not a derogatory term because it is true. At present, we know the situation with regard to beef. How can there be change for farmers regarding the prices they receive as primary producers and in the context of the bioeconomy? Do they have to form co-operatives? What are the means? Has this been looked at?

Professor Boyle mentioned climate change and our 2025 targets. As Deputy Cahill outlined, there is more we can do with solar panels and anaerobic digestion but no matter what is done, it is not ring-fenced. A farmer with a tractor working off a battery is not assessed on the basis of his farm. The benefit of that carbon reduction may go to transport. Are we in a situation whereby as we increase the national herd and increase our food output we are bound in terms of the obligations? We all speak about how carbon efficient we are, particularly in dairy, and nobody says we do not need to do more. Whatever we do, if we are ramping up production there will be an increase, and if that is beyond what is envisaged for us in the 2020 and 2030 targets, do we need to renegotiate them? We should be upfront about it and be proud of achievements in farming, considering how production has increased since the 1990s and carbon emissions have reduced. Efforts have been made. We need to have a conversation about it. People have become more aware of climate change and want to be active and do something but instead of thinking they should do it themselves, they are looking at farmers and agriculture because they are the source of a significant volume of the country's greenhouse gas emissions but they do not look at the fact that we need to eat. The positives of farming are not being acknowledged. Realistically, where do we go with all of this?