Mr. John Muldowney:

In terms of average, the national population is not growing by a significant amount. Last year's state of the environment report by the EPA indicated that livestock numbers had declined by 1 million while the human population had increased by 1 million. We have to take this in the context of where we can contribute to these targets.

On alternative land uses, the Department funded a biomass support scheme. This must be considered in terms of the demand side for renewable energies. We cannot have one side without the other in terms of working together and collaborating. The Department is trying to work with the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment on how we look at renewable energy technologies.

The most significant abatement option is our afforestation policy. Since 1990, we have afforested in excess of 300,000 ha., contributing significantly to increasing the carbon pool available to Ireland.