Mr. Tim Cullinan:

The Deputy made a very good point. Technology has not reached the point where we will get silage harvesters or tractors that will run on electric batteries. It is just not possible at the moment and we are a while away from that. We probably need to consider land use. Mr. Drennan advocated funding for growing rapeseed for rapeseed oil. All these measures we are talking about will require funding but one critical point is the availability of land. It is an issue about which we are very concerned. If we look at what farmers have already engaged in with regard to reducing emissions, we estimate that if we were to increase forestry and tillage land, which would be similar to growing rapeseed, we would decrease the amount of grassland by something in the region of 8% or 9%, which would be a significant challenge for and cost to our sector.

One of the areas we mentioned in our submission earlier is around biomethane and injecting gas into the grid. The Government has been coming forward asking us to adapt all of those further measures along with the measures we have or are currently adopting and working on, but there is a substantial cost around this. We have not seen any initiative coming from the Government providing funding. The Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, had been advocating this for quite a while but we are not seeing the funding. That is a huge concern for us. Once you change from one system to another, it is a lifestyle change but it also involves a huge financial cost with all the risks and concerns around that. My colleague may want to add to that as well.