Mr. John Keane:

I thank the Deputy for her questions. I can respond on questions about the abatement curve and the inclusion or exclusion of forestry. Land use change management is inclusive of forestry. The abatement curve covers pasture management, tillage management under cover crops, tillage management under straw incorporation and water table management in organic soils, alongside forestry. I can forward those figures to the committee. We have those figures.

It is important to recognise, as I am sure committee members are aware of, the issues around licensing and felling that arose earlier this year and at the back-end of last year. That provided an issue for the industry on an immediate basis. We need to provide certainty for farmers as we move into the future because if farmers are going to commit to a business, enterprise or to establishing a piece of forestry on their land, they are going to need certainty that they can harvest a crop for which there will be an economic return. That is important from the point of view of all farmers. To answer the question directly, land use change and land use management, the management of forestry and organic style management are included within the marginal abatement curve.

Macra na Feirme has always been very positive towards organic farming. Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, negotiations are ongoing within Europe at the moment. We have looked for direct payments for young farmers under Pillar 1 funding but there have been sound bites from Europe to the effect that the young farmer payment could include a certain element of organic farming. We are not against organic farming but young farmers have been a minority in farming for 30 or 40 years and we need supports across all our farming enterprises, including our young organic farmers and farmers involved in tillage, dairy, beef, poultry, pigs, or whatever the sector may be. We need support for all those farmers under CAP.

Another issue was highlighted by Dr. Moore. Macra na Feirme will try to facilitate growth and ambition, while recognising the increased labour need. From a policy and delivery point of view in agriculture at the moment, there are challenges in the sector, as farmers across the county would highlight, to getting labour and skilled labour for on-farm tasks. To coincide with the growth in organics and agriculture even as it is, a considerable labour demand needs to be met. There needs to be further development of programmes within Teagasc to deliver a more skilled labour force, to upskill people and encourage them into agriculture. We must create pathways for more people to come into the industry and, in particular, into the industries that Dr. Moore referred to, namely, organic and conventional farming. We can develop all these enterprises but many farms are struggling for skilled labour as it is. We need to develop that aspect to facilitate and encourage changes in practices. There are a number of strands to the issue.