Mr. Joe Healy:

We prefer the carrot approach. The first carbon tax has not worked. We have seen a carbon increase across the country in spite of it. It is important to highlight the fact that since 1990 our agricultural output has increased by 40%, while our CO2 emissions have fallen by 3.5%. We need to see the Common Agricultural Policy continue and not turn into a common environment policy. The environment will play a part in that regard, but it can only be a part. We can never lose sight of what the CAP was introduced for - the production of an adequate amount of high quality food at affordable prices and that is what it has done. When it was introduced in the 1960s, 30% of average household income was being spent on food. Today in Ireland the figure is less than 10%, while across Europe it is somewhere between 10% and 12%.

Forestry also came up as an issue. We included it in our document that we launched at the ploughing championships. It is safe to say that in Deputy Martin Kenny's part of the country there would be a very negative attitude to forestry. I have mentioned that we are at a figure of 11% and want to get it to 18%. In County Leitrim - the Deputy will correct me if I am wrong - they are already at a figure of 26%. They see that they are being priced out of the market if they want to buy some land to increase their farm size. Farmers no longer view forestry as a safe investment. Last year the level of planting fell to 5,500 ha, 25% down on the really modest figure of 7,400 ha that was the target. It is the lowest figure in 60 years. We have listed five points that we think would help forestry: removing the restrictions on planting productive marginal land; the reintroduction of the farmer forest premium differential; compensating farmers for all lands they are obligated to set aside for environmental enhancements; reducing the red tape under the forest road scheme; and the provision of funding to establish a national network of forest producer groups.

Deputy Jackie Cahill mentioned climate change. I have already said we can embrace it and that we are in a good position to do so. We have proved that we are the most efficient producers of dairy products in Europe from a carbon footprint point of view. We are in the top five - there is really not much between the top five - in beef production. The Deputy's question was about the sustainability of steer production. I come back to the multiple roles of suckler cow and steer production in parts of the country that are not really suitable for tillage or dairy farming. The multiple roles involve keeping rural Ireland alive in terms of the money being spent there. Professor Alan Renwick's analysis a number of years ago showed that every euro given in support given to those sectors gave rise to a multiplier of 4.28 in the local economy. We need to do this. That is why we are driving on in our lobbying campaign to have a figure of €200 per cow which would create that multiplier at local level. We need to use technology, research and genetic improvements to bring the bottom and middle thirds in the sector up to the efficiency level of the top one third.

My colleague, Mr. Cooney, will cover some of the other areas mentioned.