Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank both of our guests. We often speak about bringing farmers with us and the practicalities of moving agriculture to where we need to go. They both outlined that it is our largest emitter. To what extent does it do a disservice to rural Ireland and farmers to not be honest about the survival of rural Ireland based on the agricultural practices, either that we have now or that we are moving to? I am thinking in terms of water quality and flooding. I would like to hear from both witnesses what the impact of not changing our agricultural patterns would be on rural Ireland and the sustainability of farm incomes over time if we look at changes in European funding over time. Small farmers, in particular, feel they get a raw deal. Coming from the west of Ireland, that is what I hear. It is a very different story from that of the large dairy farmers that is coming to my door. The witnesses might speak about that.

The witnesses, and particularly for Ms O'Neill, have been critical of existing agricultural policies. I would like to hear from both of them about the importance of moving the climate Bill on and the part to be played by the climate advisory council in shifting policy in Ireland. That is important and it can get lost in the conversation that policies need to change but there needs to be an imperative in order to do that. They might comment on that.

A question Ms O'Neill addressed to an extent is whether it might the lack of mapping that we have in the country that is creating the difficulty. It becomes quite difficult to have a vision without that map where one has the map before, one has the map after and we can all buy-in to it. Without that vision, it can be quite difficult.

There has been a good bit of conversation about offsetting. My understanding of what the witnesses are saying is that it is not really to do with offsetting. It is to do with the fact that if we shift to a different land use, that naturally brings emissions down. There are different practices. It is not only about offsetting carbon but about the fact that one also has a reduction in particular types of farming that create those emissions. I am particularly interested in forestry and the part it can play. Do the witnesses have any figures on the impact on emissions? If we have X amount of coverage, what does that looks like? We have had this discussion at a previous committee meeting but I would like to hear, in particular from Professor Matthews, about the economics of support for farmers and Ireland. Those are a few of initial questions.