Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Bruton and the Chairman. I also thank the witnesses because this discussion has been really useful. I am thinking about the conversation overall, which dealt with many topics. There is the importance of a skilled labour force, adding value and some of the projects, such as the BRIDE project. It relates to intensive farming but there are some organic farms in Galway, which would be my constituency, including Green Earth Organics and Beechlawn. Mr. Con Traas does not have an organic farm but there is some value added to the product with a very small amount of land.

Some of these conversations can start from a very negative perspective and it might fell like a threat to farming when we are talking about a climate action Bill or climate action in general. High emissions are indicated in the Environmental Protection Agency report issued earlier. Does Macra acknowledge that we all want to find solutions? Are there other ways we could add to our report so better stakeholder engagement could happen? There is no point in all of us stepping out of the conversation and we must find ways to continue it and point out good practice. I acknowledge the point made by Mr. Keane and we must ensure all young farmers are supported. There may be a fear that if we use too much of a carrot in one area, we might not support farmers in other areas. The BRIDE project indicates there are ways of supporting farmers in different types of industry. I am interested in hearing thoughts about that stakeholder element.