Mr. Kevin Kinsella:

This has to come from this committee and the political establishment to advance the issue. There were some very positive comments about it here today with regard to driving it on. It is important to put on the record the environmental work taking place on Irish farms to tackle climate change. Some 25,000 suckler farmers are involved in the BDGP. Just less than 20,000 have joined the BEEP. Some 200,000 farmers have had 200,000 individual carbon assessments carried out on their farms, with approximately 1.5 per farm. As far as I am aware, no other sector and no other country in the world does that work to assess and tackle the climate and carbon challenge. Some 40% of our farmers are involved in GLAS and the statistics speak for themselves, with the number of hectares, hedgerows and fenced-off waterways involved. All the statistics are there. We ask that Deputies such as Deputy Eamon Ryan recognise that. Do not condemn the sector but recognise us for the work that we are doing. Give some recognition of the work taking place at an individual farm level.

Deputy Fitzmaurice asked about the CAP and payments. We have no difficulty with addressing the importance of direct payments and trying to increase the average direct payment to €20,000 per farmer. We want that but the reality is that, to do that, one has to get a 50% increase in the budget.