Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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The last time I saw a paper like this was in University College Dublin, and it was given by some of Dr. Schulte's predecessors. The focus obviously has to be on soil type and land use and, broadly, how soils function. That is one of the challenges. There are gleysols, heavy soils, limestone soils and deep soils. I appreciate Dr. Schulte is trying to aggregate them in averages, but how can he be more specific about the different soil types across the country in a way that will help achieve the 2050 goal? The most important thing he said was that in September this year the soil type identification would be updated. There have been changes owing to drainage and so on which have created different types of soil. How will that input into his process? In respect of carbon sequestration, habitat diversity and water purification, he has indicated that forestry has a significant role to play as a carbon sink. We only have 7,500 ha and aim to have in excess of 10,000 ha in forestry. Does he have any view on how we will achieve this?

The real challenge is to explore the compatibility of achieving a 60% increase in world food production by 2050 and the central and important issue of sustainability. Does Dr. Schulte agree that is the nub of the problem? We have so often been behind the ball in dealing with the European Union. Did Dr. Schulte say it was bringing out a land use directive for 2019?