David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am only giving Mr. Gleeson the facts, what we have is increased agricultural emissions, an increase in dairy production and I will move on to an underspend in forestry. Mr. Gleeson answered some questions in that regard asked by Deputy Aylward. Mr. Gleeson is in one of the key Departments that must play a leading role in reducing carbon emissions and our carbon footprint. One of the things to reduce carbon emissions is to reduce the national herd. The other way is to increase carbon capture in a carbon sink, which is through forestry. I will get to the special report of the Comptroller and Auditor General. Given the urgency of climate action, how is it that we could end up with a situation where there is a shortfall of 17% in the targets of 4,500 ha? That does not make sense to me. Mr. Gleeson said there is resistance from farmers, but his job is to challenge that resistance, not just to come here and tell us there is resistance. He must put in place the solutions to challenge that resistance. It is breathtaking that when this is such a global issue and there is a major focus on it in the Oireachtas, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine underspent on afforestation. That is extraordinary.