Mr. Michael Earls:

We welcome the foresight of both committees to dedicate a hearing to see how technology can play a major role in reducing farm emissions. I am the managing director of EASYFIX. I am joined by my colleagues, Mr. Ronan Boyle, Mr. Niall Earls and Mr. P.J. Burke.

EASYFIX is a Galway-based company whose focus for the past 25 years has been to provide innovative products that improve animal welfare. Given the time of year, the committee may know us best for our horse-friendly fences that have significantly reduced injuries to horses and riders in horse racing. The committee may not know that we export a whole range of products to over 60 countries worldwide. We are proud of the fact that we are now the world's number one supplier of livestock comfort products.

There has been a lot of talk about how we can reduce emissions and I respectfully submit that much of this debate has generated more heat than light. We at EASYFIX believe this should not be a simplistic binary debate that centres on the need to cull the national herd to meet climate targets.

We are also concerned that there is an urgent need to focus on the here and now. Looking at improving genetics or the use of feed additives are great ideas, but there are solutions that are tried and tested and currently available that can cut emissions radically. We believe that technology can make an enormous contribution. We urge both committees to support the concept of a dedicated emissions reduction fund to be put in place for Irish agriculture that ring-fences funds and links them to emission reduction targets. We must act today if we are to make serious inroads to meet our emissions targets. Other countries actively support farmers with capital grants of up to 40%. It is our view that the Government needs to support farmers and help give them the tools to do the job.

When people talk about technology they often talk about the future potential of technology. My team and I will not do that. We will show members what is possible today. We will demonstrate that with two technologies, namely, slat rubber mats and EASYFIX slurry technology. The benefits of these two technologies have been proven in farm trials and using actual performance data by Wageningen University and Research and peer reviewed by Professor Gary Lanigan, National University of Ireland, NUI, Galway. The combined benefits of both technologies are worth outlining. They are: reduce on-farm emissions by 24%; a major reduction in artificial fertiliser of more than 25%; significantly reduces lameness and joint swelling in animals; a resultant fall of antibiotic use; a major gain in animal welfare that helps counter the reputational challenge to our green image from winter housing; and some 10% of farm deaths are slurry related - our system helps eliminate hydrogen sulphide, which will be safer for both farmers and their animals. I will ask my colleague, Mr. Ronan Boyle, to outline each system in turn.