Mr. Damian McDonald:

The key word in this debate is "balance". There has been a huge focus on the fact that there has been an increase in emissions and it is all negative. The Senator mentioned it earlier. We have to recognise the huge positive the ability to expand into a profitable sector like dairy has been for Irish farm families and the rural economy. Balance is the key issue. The point the president is making is that we have managed to expand from 1990 to now and flat-line our emissions. What Teagasc is proposing today is a clear pathway by which we can grow our agricultural businesses while reducing emissions through adopting the 27 measures it has put forward. The Deputy acknowledges that she is not from rural Ireland. If agriculture is removed there is not much going on outside the M50. We have to recognise that. We must realise that for many families and spin-off businesses there, agriculture is where it is at. We need to find a balanced approach to what we do. In our presentation we did not get to mention the comments made by Professor John Fitzgerald. He stated:

When I was appointed as chairman of the [Climate Change Advisory Council] it was my understanding of the science that I was going to have to tell farmers they would have to get rid of their cows. It turns out, however, that the scientific evidence on this issue is more complicated.

Agriculture needs a more nuanced solution. What the committee heard today from Mr. Trevor Donnellan is the outcome of years and years of scientific research aimed at producing a marginal abatement cost curve. Unfortunately, what we saw in the Citizens' Assembly was four days of fairly superficial argument without any economic or social balance. I wish to point out to the committee members that this committee's recommendations will be massively important for the livelihoods of all of our members and for many more people in agriculture and in rural Ireland. Balance is key. We have a State agency which has set out a very credible pathway. We talk about fora. We have clearly put on the record that we need political leadership to pull together all the Departments. Let us get cracking on achieving this. That will not be easy either.