Ms Geraldine O'Sullivan:

In respect of carbon farming there is huge potential to look at the mechanisms it can add to decarbonisation on farms. A number of schemes are operating in Europe, particularly the carbon and biodiversity, CarBi, scheme in France, which looks at measures that can be introduced at farm level and outcomes, be that a reduction in output, and pays the farmer for that. The climate action plan contains a 1.6 terawatt proposal. We need to sit down and examine whether it will be a mixture of smaller on-farm operations or a mixture of community-based operations, how we are going to set up those supply chains and the barriers to achieving that because we have that obligation and a relatively short period in which to get those plans in place based on what people have said here today.

There is an urgency that we decide to get that plan and get the detail to understand, as has been discussed here, the barriers and find the solutions and that we do that in the most sustainable way possible.

There have been concerns. It was very interesting to hear Dr. Beausang say she identified potentials there, which we are using already within agriculture, be it LESS for the digestate and also we are doing a lot of work on soil improvement without the increased use of fertiliser. That comes into that carbon farming element of it. We have a target here now and we have identified biomethane as a potential source to solve some of this. We need to get a plan in place and give farmers the confidence to invest within it. I do not see anybody changing at this moment in time. We have had a lot of false hopes when it comes to on-farm renewable energy over a long period of time. We need to get a plan in place. We need to provide confidence within the sector. We need to increase understanding of it and we need to put the financial model associated with that behind it.