Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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In respect of the number of grazing days we have as a natural advantage, that assumes the climate stays as it is. Essentially, we saw how in the past year, there was a very high level of mortality compared with other years because of the shortage of feed. It shows the kind of issue that could arise if there was a dislocation of climate and if our climate changed substantially between now and 2050. The science is telling us that this is what is going to happen. There will be an implication for the number of cattle if that is the only way, and clearly it is, that one can impact on that because one cannot engineer out the emissions.

The UN has identified climate change as a major threat to food security. We all understand, from the point of view of the national economy, that the food industry is very important. If climate change causes food insecurity, could it not equally be argued that there is an obligation on agriculture to take a proportionate share of the reductions in national greenhouse gas emissions?

Ms O'Shea referred to New Zealand. Could she elaborate on that? New Zealand has obviously developed a policy on climate change, yet it seems to be doing as well as us, if not slightly better. Could Ms O'Shea give us some comparisons? Perhaps it is not the big bogey if it can be done in New Zealand, which practices intensive agriculture.

What realistic target for overall agricultural emissions does Ms O'Shea see for 2020? Obviously, we have legal obligations nationally, but what would be a realistic target for agriculture for 2020 and up to 2050? Is that something Glanbia Ingredients Ireland has modelled?