Mr. Dale Crammond:

It is a valid point. As Ms Love stated earlier, we are only going to achieve this through a combination of measures. These involve financial supports for farmers. Regulation will also be part of the solution. There is no getting away from that. Private industry incentives will also play a role. We have raised the issue of the early finishing of our beef animals. This will not happen unless the pricing structures change to encourage and incentivise that. If we look at what some processors have done recently in terms of their sustainability programmes, we can see that they are offering milk price bonuses to farmers who take on a particular suite of actions, be they around the use of protected urea or biodiversity initiatives. This is going to be crucial. A whole-of-government, whole-of-industry and whole-of-sector approach is needed. It is not just us in the Department sitting in our ivory towers and stating that this is how it must be. We need to bring everyone with us. The industry will be crucial. To be fair to the industry, it is up for this. We have discussed the matter with it, and it wants to be part of this transition and journey. It is selling these products all over the world, so it wants to be the most sustainable it can possibly be in respect of it.

Metrics were mentioned by Mr. Kierans. It is not realistic to say that we can change the metrics at the moment. We can engage internationally. It is part of a process. The climate legislation contains a very special reference to the distinct characteristics of biogenic methane. That has to be taken on board by Government when it is considering establishing these sectoral ceilings because methane is really the only gas that behaves differently in the atmosphere vis-à-visthe other two greenhouse gases that make up the majority of the inventory, namely, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. That clause is there to cover this. The Minister was very aware of that, the Government is clearly aware of it and they will have to take it into consideration as they have done to date at all stages in the process.