Noel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister and his officials. I thank him for his presentation. It brought balance to the proceedings. Many of the presentations of groups that appeared before us focused more on agriculture than anything else and sought serious reductions in emissions in the agriculture sector. Agriculture will play its role. Very important to Ireland is the balance between our ability to produce quality food and the opportunities presented by the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy with the abolition of quotas, bearing in mind that we export 90% of what we produce agriculturally. It is very important that we strike the right balance between environmental protection and food production. Will the reformed Common Agricultural Policy present Ireland with difficulties in the lead-up to 2020 in that many farmers will be considering increasing their herds, particularly their dairy herds? I recently met a farmer who was increasing his herd from 80 to 150. Unless there is balance in the legislation, there will be a negative impact on our capacity to produce quality food. I welcome the Minister's refreshing approach to dealing with this issue. In conjunction with the submissions by the IFA and Teagasc, it augurs well for our ability to produce quality food.