Mr. Charles Stanley-Smith:

I will start with veganism. I live in rural Tipperary. Many of my neighbours are farmers. In fact, one young farmer who is a neighbour of mine recently pulled out of beef production and went into milk production at an extreme cost to himself because, like many things today, it was very difficult for him to make a living. We are fully understanding of that.

To deal with Senator Mulherin's point, I am not a vegan. I will never be a vegan. I might eat vegetarian a couple of times a week. I do not know how somebody has got this idea that we are promoting veganism. A pack of cards was produced, and the idea came from children themselves, on how climate change can be dealt with. That was one of the suggestions along with one on when "Dr. Who" returns and so on. However, this has been pulled out and made into a fact that we are promoting veganism. It is untrue. I certainly will never promote veganism. I have been a meat eater for a long time. I have been in the food industry. I understand the quality of Irish beef. I am fully behind Irish beef and I would promote it. Some people have a choice and become vegans. That is their own choice. I have nothing against them. I am just saying that on a personal basis, I will not. I am not sure how-----