Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending today and for their submissions. I have a few questions. Some of what I intended to ask has already been covered and dealt with efficiently.

On the organic growers' submission, I have a question concerning the sourcing of organic seed for the sector post Brexit. I ask for more elaboration on that. Could there potentially be a future for Ireland in becoming an organic seed producer now that we have identified that there is a gap in the market? We had a similar issue with the organic and inorganic seed potato post Brexit. It has been addressed. A big drive has been undertaken with a view to us becoming producers. Is there an opportunity there?

The other question I have is more a discussion point in respect of organics in the current climate action debate and the traditional regulation and certification of organic farms. The consumers really see the emphasis as being on the quality of the food coming from the lack of pesticides, herbicides and artificial fertilisers; and in the meat products, from the lack of microbial intervention, etc. In the current debate, is there enough emphasis on the sustainability side and the actual carbon footprint of the produce and the food? I could be an organic farmer tomorrow morning and tick all the boxes, have the organic packaging and the stamp and meet all the criteria. However, I could be using the biggest diesel-guzzling tractor in the world on the farm and nobody would even be aware of that. Therefore, do we need to tie the whole sustainability side of organics into it and give farmers a better chance to become organic if they can prove that they are environmentally-friendly and have low carbon emissions, which they could achieve by tying in some microgeneration as part of their overall farm process?

In the research I have done and the material I have read on organics, nearly every article opens with the positive of the increased demand for the product, but the number of farmers who want to become organic is not keeping pace with that increased demand. "Why so because", as they say down in our country?