Mr. Trevor Donnellan:

I do not know the answer to the Deputy's first question. It is not an area on which I claim to have any expertise. We may be able to revert to the committee with a response on that issue. The earlier forays into the use of miscanthus were not especially successful for several reasons. I would prefer to be able to provide the committee with a more comprehensive answer on that issue.

I do not know the timescale for halving agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. As stated in the previous session, it is very difficult for us to know with any certainty what scientific breakthroughs will emerge in the coming ten, 15 or 20 years. Based on current knowledge and technology, it is very hard to see how we could halve agricultural greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland without doing something very differently in terms of the type of agriculture we have. The only way to achieve that reduction by 2030 or 2040 in the absence of any dramatic scientific breakthrough would be for the agriculture sector to be far less focused on the bovine sector in favour of crop-based agriculture, for example. It is difficult to see how that would materialise.