Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Quite unusually in economic terms, we had a dairy sector that was constrained by quotas for approximately 30 years. That led to a distortion of the balance between agriculture’s various sectors, as dairy could not expand. Following the removal of quotas at European level, we saw an expansion in the dairy herd. There has now been a stabilisation and, indeed, a small net reduction of the cattle herd in the past year or two. Dairy has found its level. The objective is to focus on reducing the herd’s emissions.