Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like to get a better idea of this. As for the technologies that are evolving in the countries that have accepted CRISPR, how far behind the curve are we compared with those countries on specific production yields, use of pesticides, etc.?

Were the directive to change, how long would it take us to catch up? Could we piggyback on advances that others have made or would we need to make specific modifications, given our soil types, climate and the types of crop we are sowing? If so, how long would it take? Would we have the labs and expertise if we got the green light in the morning?

While reading the submissions, I thought about how we had had many meetings on the forestry sector, during which ash dieback was often discussed. One of the solutions proposed to us had to do with how people were in the process of trying to develop ash trees that were resistant to ash dieback. If we start interfering like that by developing a new ash, when will the new ash stop being native Irish ash? Could this technology be used to develop an ash dieback-resistant ash that was still a native Irish ash so that we would not have to import anything?