Dr. Stan Lalor:

I would support that. When Senator Daly talked about the CAP schemes, he mentioned the focus being on reduced production. We are supporting farmers all the time on other regulations, particularly in relation to nitrates derogation. We have a number of activities ongoing with which we are trying to support farmers. It is not always that it has to be a reduction in production. We have the agricultural sustainability support and advisory programme, ASSAP, and the agricultural catchments programme, for example, which is very much focused on trying to operate within what is required to meet the environmental targets that are increasing in priority while still maintaining farm viability and viable profitable systems.

Likewise, on the greenhouse gas side, we need to reduce overall total emissions but it is always about mitigation strategies and technologies being applied, both in development and research, and what we can apply through advisory as well. As the director has outlined, we have a new strategy that is accelerating all of that activity as well.

It is probably important to make the point as well that the agricultural sector and the farmers involved with whom we would be working every day as a client base are all united in not wanting to do damage to the environment. They want to maintain their farm viability but they are not setting out to do any damage to water quality, have excess carbon emissions or anything like that. Our activities are very much supporting their motivation and their ambition in that regard with the research we can develop to do that. The technologies we will continue to develop into the future are a part of that. The other key area is how we can support farmers as much as possible, not always telling them they must adopt but supporting them to adopt. Many of them want to do this as well and it is important we recognise that. The advisory programme we are hoping to design and implement in the coming years, especially on the climate action side, is very much driven by that. It will encourage farmers to be motivated to take action and support them as much as possible in the adoption of our technologies.