Professor John FitzGerald:

We are not getting involved in the issue of dietary change and we have not looked at this issue. I made the point that the beef and agriculture sectors face major challenges. We are concerned about dealing with those challenges in a way that is compatible with dealing with climate change. From what we can see, dealing with climate change will be compatible with protecting farmers' interests in the long term. We are not taking a position on the issue of alternative foods. We are saying that this is happening in the outside world and, whatever we do in Ireland, it will affect the market for agricultural produce. Given that the vast bulk of our beef and dairy products are exported, it is something we need to be concerned about and we suggest that transitioning to an alternative land use would be helpful for farmers and give them security in this uncertain external environment.