Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming today. I will not put questions to them now because we are under time pressure. I am delighted and I want to thank the Co-Chairman, Deputy Leddin, for accommodating this joint meeting with the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action.

I want to hear about the technology that will allow for sustainable food production without affecting production. We are having a few meetings on this subject and I hope when we are finished, the two committees can make a joint proposal on a climate budget to go to Cabinet. Those of us who are farmers know that the TAMS ceiling is very restrictive, especially given the cost of materials now. The costs of building a shed are prohibitive. The maximum grant a farmer can claim is €80,000. This new technology will not be on the footprint when the farmer is doing the shed. When putting together a climate budget, there a valid argument to include this kind of modern technology which can reduce emissions and help us achieve sustainable food production, whether as proposed by EASYFIX or others - it should be open to everyone.

I attended a conference in Paris with officials from the secretariat on Monday. Sustainable food production and food security are very much back on the agenda. The war in Ukraine has very much brought that home. We still cannot ignore climate change. We definitely need to have food security. We need to accept that climate change is there. On numerous occasions, I have said that I am fed up with being told what farmers cannot do; I want to be told what we can do to achieve the targets that we need to achieve to protect our environment. Everybody wants to protect our environment. We also want to ensure we have a sustainable industry. I thank the witnesses for their very insightful presentations. They definitely gave us much food for thought.