Mr. Michael O'Brien:

I thank the Chairman. I will deal with Senator Mulherin's second question on the importance of more diversified diets, including more plants and vegetables which was discussed at the committee recently. That rhymes with the international scientific evidence and advice, which is increasingly coming to the fore. The Senator is probably familiar with the significant debate that has surround the EAT-Lancet commission's report on healthy diets, which calls for more balanced diets.

Trócaire would certainly endorse the importance of more balanced diets for achieving health, nutrition security and food security, as well as social equity and environmental sustainability.

Globally, alongside the rising number of people in hunger, we see the increasing number who are living with malnutrition, both in developed and developing countries. In order to address this, we need to look at a transformation in some of what we are doing in the agricultural and food system, and biodiversity is a key dimension. Having more diverse production, whereby Ireland would be in the position to grow more fruit and vegetables that are suitable for this climate, means we would not need to import so many carrots or onions as they could be grown here. Similarly, there should be a concentration in developing countries around diverse fruits and vegetables where climatic conditions are conducive in those environments. Through that, we believe we would be supporting the ecosystems and ecosystem services that are at the very base of ensuring agriculture continues in a healthy condition, both here and globally. I am talking about those services around provisioning, food security and regulation, and around addressing health and climate regulation, as well as the cultural and spiritual value that is associated with food. There are also the support services around ensuring that natural habitats are retained and that soils remain healthy. This is why agroecology is very much coming to the fore as something which ticks all of those boxes.