Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 12 December 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed)

12:30 pm

Mr. Trevor Donnellan:

That is correct. My expectation is that we will see more produced by each dairy cow, but we will probably also see more dairy cows in the future. That is baked into all of the scenarios we are looking at here. The level of profitability that is in the dairy sector is so high, relative to other sectors, that expansion of the sector is inevitable and arguably desirable from an economic point of view. The question ultimately becomes one of what happens to the other part of the cattle population, the breeding and suckler herd. Whether that stays the same size in the future or decreases in size is the question. I cannot see it growing in size in future. That will be a key factor in terms of what will be the total level of cattle population in the future and what will be the total level of emissions.

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