Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I could not agree with the Chairman more on the issue of climate change. I would love to hear more about that meeting in Athlone because Athlone itself has experienced the worst excesses of climate change. It was under water for most of early 2016. There is an emerging public consensus that we need to do something urgently. That public consensus needs to be reflected in the words of the people who sit in this building, the representatives who represent that public. As I said to Deputy Ó Snodaigh earlier, we need to show consistency in the policies we espouse worldwide and those we implement on the ground in Ireland. In arriving at our new international development policy, we found that the public engagement meetings we held throughout the country were very helpful and informative. I mentioned that there is absolute consensus in this room on the 0.7% contribution. We found that the exact same was true in every conversation we had in Dublin, Cork, Sligo, Limerick, and Galway. We need to engage in a similar exercise in respect of climate change.

I told a story a few minutes ago of an island in the Pacific that will not be around in 30 years. I saw a map created by the geography department of one of our third level institutions - I cannot remember which one - that mapped out Ireland in 2100 if the current level of rise in sea levels continues. I contemplated moving a little bit further inland when I saw it because a significant impact is waiting for us if we do not act on this urgently. Very good work is being done in the committee chaired by my colleague, Deputy Naughton. Equally good work is being done by all colleagues across the Oireachtas. Those of us who share these concerns need to be a little more vocal and a little more courageous in the things we say in the public domain. We need to point out the seriousness and urgency with which we need to treat this issue.

I also agree completely with the Chairman in respect of Ireland's internationally renowned expertise in agriculture and in respect of how that can be used to assist people in our partner countries. I was very happy to launch a programme of collaboration between the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and our Department with the Minister, Deputy Creed, last year. This collaboration supports Irish agritech companies in establishing their first presence in Africa. One of the main reasons that most innovative agritech companies are afraid to invest in Africa is simply the risk associated with it. This was discussed in Seattle last week by many people who are involved in agritech internationally. Companies do not know what they are getting into as regards national government policy and are worried about the ground moving beneath their feet. Governments internationally, including our own, are trying to remove some of that risk or to insure those companies against it. We are supporting them and letting them know that we have their back as they make their presence felt in these economies for the first time and as they collaborate with emerging and very impressive African agriscience and agritech companies. The Department also has a memorandum of understanding with Teagasc.

With regard to seeing that science implemented on the ground, NGOs like Self Help Africa are doing extraordinary work in assisting farmers to increase their production, to make it more efficient, and to seek out and secure new markets for their produce. The Chairman mentioned that the private sector has a role to play. We have a consultancy looking at private sector engagement in the development of a more efficient and more scientifically underpinned agricultural economy across the whole of Africa. That work is happening as a result of our new policy, A Better World.