Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Lumley for his presentation. To an extent, I agree with much of what he said. An Taisce has done some great work, in particular, with the green schools initiative. Many rural areas have been enriched by work done under An Taisce's programme. That said, I come from County Leitrim where many people who wanted to build a house in an area had their planning application objected to by An Taisce. They are very sore about this. They find it very hard to accept the credentials of An Taisce in the depopulation of areas where people want to live.

We are here to discuss the beef industry. I agree that we need to examine how we can reduce our emissions and engage in a model of low intensity farming which will produce a higher profit for the farmer. The points made about fertilisation and soil nutrition are being worked on. We need to reduce the levels of nitrates and other chemicals in watercourses and so on. I think work is under way in that regard. I agree that we need to move away from mass afforestation and use our hedgerows as an asset to expand and develop a bio-diverse model of farming.

Solar farming and solar panels were mentioned in An Taisce's document. There is an opportunity to engage in solar panel installation on all farm buildings throughout the country. There is no reason the Government cannot provide assistance to allow this to happen.

On the maintenance of peatlands, bogs and mountain uplands, I agree that the model used in the Burren can be extended to other areas.

On the concept of new sectors of farming and farmers diversifying into growing alternative crops and so forth, in many cases they have found that developing these sectors and models has met with difficulty because there has not been a developed market. In other words, one must develop the entire sector. One cannot just encourage farmers to plant thousands of acres of willow or whatever else unless one also considers how it will be processed and the machinery and equipment that will be available to harvest it and so forth. That is where there are holes. This issue has been dealt with at the Joint Committee on Climate Action. A great deal of the presentation made was on such matters.

Mr. Lumley referred to international scientific research on various issues and made a big push for people to eat no red meat, or certainly a great deal less. We are all open to that argument, which is fine. At the same time, however, there is a market for it and people wish to buy it. If they want to buy it sourced from the grass-based family farm model, we provide that model. It is much more authentic and the right way to produce it. An issue was raised with the farming organisations and others related to the more intensive way of producing it using big feedlots and the like. We need to move away from that model, but that does not mean that there is not an opportunity for Irish farmers to continue to do what they have always done, that is, produce high quality beef and sell it to a market that wants it.

Much of the material in the document refers to scientific research. I will not doubt any of it, but I came across stuff that was wrong. For example, it is stated mushrooms are grown in compost made from peat. I do not know if the delegates were ever on a mushroom farm, but the compost used is not made from peat but from organic matter such as straw. Probably less than 10% is a layer of peat on the surface. When something that is not factually correct is included, it makes people look at the figure and the research referenced more sceptically.

I can go some of the distance with the delegates. As Mr. Lumley said, it is not a case of "them and us". We must work together. At the same time, however, suggesting the future lies in getting rid of the beef industry is not the way forward. If he is not saying that, it is welcome, but on this side of the table that largely is what I heard.