Dr. Liam Lysaght:

I thank Senator O’Reilly. I will pick up on the farming and biodiversity issue. I see this as being one of the potentially major win-win situations, if we can change the narrative a little bit around biodiversity and farming. Sadly, nature conservation policy in Ireland since the 1990s has been predicated in a negative way in terms of restrictions and regulations. There are opportunities to communicate better at the landscape level and to look at those aspects of farming which may be described as low hanging fruit. In some of the areas where one has very wet grasslands, for example, great efforts have been made to keep those in a more improved condition through the use of perennial ryegrass. Great efforts, resources and inputs have been invested into farming marginal agricultural landscapes. If we could even start by trying to retain these, cut back on productivity and inputs at this level, that is an area in which we could have a quick win that could help to integrate the biodiversity benefits without impacting too much on farm productivity and it could also help in respect of greenhouse gas emissions. If we could change the narrative, there are big wins to be gained around the farming and biodiversity side.