Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I have a very quick point, which follows on from what Deputy Cronin's comments. I met some farmers from Wicklow during the farm protests on Friday. It is becoming clear to me that the policy drivers of the State, over many years, have forced or encouraged farmers down this very industrial and intensive path. Farmers are very good at doing their job. If you give them a job to do, they will do it. They have done exactly what the State has required of them. Now, the State is going to require a different approach. The farmers to whom I have been talking know there are changes to be made, but how we get there is what is important. They do not want to left behind, naturally enough. No one wants to be left behind. If they were tasked with looking after our environment and biodiversity and with storing carbon, they would do that very well. The question really comes down to whether those policy drivers are there, to which Ms O'Neill referred in her previous answer.

One of the key things I have looked at is the concept of just transition, not the narrow union focus as initially played out but a just transition that applies to our farmers as well. They are a key part of this but it is not something we are seeing discussed in relation to our agricultural communities. Is that a big gap? What are the risks of farmers not identifying with that just transition concept or the Government not applying it? Do the witnesses believe it is actually happening?