Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My next questions are for Professor FitzGerald. We have been having a debate on agriculture in this committee and outside it. We are an agricultural country, so it makes sense that we have higher agricultural emissions than countries without a large agricultural sector. Given that our agricultural sector is fairly efficient, one of the arguments being put forward is that if we reduce agricultural production in this country, the food will have to be produced elsewhere and perhaps less efficiently. What is the witnesses' view of that argument?

A related hot topic concerns the extraction of oil and gas. Again, the same type of counter-argument arises in respect of the country's energy security. If we are still dependent on those fuels to keep the lights on, what is the witnesses' view on our becoming reliant on another country to meet that demand and our having to import the fuels, which generates more emissions via transportation?