Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses. It has been very informative for me. It is very interesting to hear the witnesses' perspectives and experiences. What they are saying really chimes with our climate obligations. It is interesting to hear that farmers have a willingness in this regard. I can see it in my area, and how we can point towards the new opportunities and new ways of farming. I wonder then why we are not making so much progress. I wonder why the debate is so toxic. Perhaps we could get a sense from the witnesses of this. There is such a commonality in the presentations and a shared analysis around where we are and where we need to get to. There is a lot of detail that I have not yet got my head fully around regarding the frameworks that could make that happen, including results-based payments and so on.

I have a few questions and I hope to afford the witnesses the opportunity to share some of their frustrations on where they believe the barriers are. I have a question on scale. I am conscious that a lot of this is pilot projects. We have lots of pilot projects and for some reason a lot of it does not scale up. What are the barriers to scaling up these initiatives? What needs to happen in the next short number of months for these types of initiatives to be scaled up?

On the CAP strategic plan, what are the witnesses assessment of CAP? There is an idea that farmers will respond to incentives. There is an argument that maybe the incentives have been the wrong ones. Does this reflect the wrong set of values at a European Union level or a national level, and does this continue on in the current CAP? Is the current CAP large enough or is it a smaller pie than previously? Is it the case that CAP has been repurposed?

The witnesses have spoke about engagement. This issue has come up time and again. During planning for carbon budgets, were the witnesses' organisations consulted, formally or informally, on the development of the upcoming climate action plan?