Professor Gerry Boyle:

I will respond briefly and Professor O'Mara might take the question on old grass versus new. I thank Deputy Browne for his comments and good wishes, particularly as they are from a fellow Tipperary man. I must state an interest here, as I always do, that I have a small forest myself. We have been very fortunate. I believe it was 2014 when agricultural emissions could be offset against forestry and agricultural land. I will be positive for a minute. There is no doubt that the level of plantation farmers undertook 30 years ago and more is benefiting us now, not least in terms of timber production and so on, and especially in commons sequestration. We are benefitting, and will benefit up to 2030, from the historical level of planting that was put in place.

As Deputy Browne rightly pointed out, the problem is that the current level of plantation is well below the national target and way below the levels that will be needed to replenish the forest stocks for carbon sequestration post-2030. This is a huge concern, obviously. Teagasc been involved with the Department and COFORD in the past couple of years in actively promoting an afforestation campaign. It is a difficult area. I do not have to go into the views that some non-farming people, and indeed some farming people, have in relation to forests. That was before there was even an understanding of the carbon sequestration potential of forests. There are whole other issues. We can speculate as to the reasons for the very disappointing levels of planting that is going on. A new group has been set up to look into all of this and I agree with the Deputy that the matter is very urgent.

The Deputy asked a question on whether Teagasc has been asked to undertake any analysis on the green deal. The answer is "No." We have been asked, and we continue to work with the Department, on the whole impact of the climate change scenarios, those in the programme for Government and the international commitments that Ireland has entered into. There are many ancillary issues, but I see that issue as being the primary driver behind the green deal. We are certainly working on that.

We are in the difficult situation where we do not yet have a firm indication of what targets will be attached to the sector. We expect this in a couple of months and we will continue to do the work we are doing. The Deputy can be assured, however, that the issue of implications for Ireland of the whole green agenda, including climate change, is very much at the top of our agenda. We are continuing to work on this and look at different scenarios. That is very much in train. Perhaps Dr. O'Mara will answer the last question.