Dr. Frank O'Mara:

Yes. The 10% is mainly the protein part of the diet such as distillers' grains, soya bean meal and rape seed meal to increase protein. We produce some of the starchy feed here such as barley and the by-products. We can grow beans; there is no problem with doing that, but I do not think we have the ability to grow enough beans to meet our protein requirements. It is a crop that must be subsidised to make it profitable. Most of the feed we import goes into the pig and poultry sector, where soya bean is the protein of choice.

I do not know the figures for vegetables. My sense is that we grow most of the staple vegetables we need such as potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, cabbage and so on. Potatoes are nearly all grown locally. Looking at some of the other vegetables, I do not want to use the word "exotic", but it is the only one that comes to mind. Many are imported, with all of the problems the member raised about import miles. Unfortunately, I do not have exact figures beyond that hunch.

On dairy industry expansion, there was a question about whether there was a master plan or programme to increase the size of the dairy herd to increase and reduce the size of the the beef herd. I would not call it a master plan, but there was an expectation that some of the increase in dairy cow numbers would come from farmers getting out of beef production and getting into dairy production. That has happened to an extent, but the beef cow numbers have remained fairly stable. They have reduced somewhat, perhaps by 8% or 10% in the past five to ten years, but it is not a big reduction, whereas the dairy herd has grown by more. I would not say it was a master plan, but people did think there would be more of a decline in the size of the beef cow herd. Obviously, dairy cows produce calves and most of the male calves end up in the beef industry. We did not anticipate any decline in beef output because we expected dairy calves to contribute to beef output. Almost 60% of the steers killed in the country last year were of dairy cow origin. Dr. Donnellan may return to this issue in his remarks about the future footprint.

On science that might help, we are looking at solutions that would help to reduce emissions. They have a significant part to play. Recently, we undertook research into fertiliser types that showed that in using stabilised urea instead of calcium ammonia nitrate that farmers might typically use we could reduce the emissions of nitrous oxide without any affect on grass production. It is the case that there is a lot of research ongoing into feed additives. Teagasc is not involved in it, but we are well linked into the international research in the area. There is evidence that there are feed additives which will significantly reduce methane emissions. There is more work to be done in establishing how long-term the reduction is and whether the cow will eventually return to her normal emissions. There are issues surrounding the safety testing of these additives before they are used on a widespread basis. There is also the cost. These additives are not cheap. There are possible technological solutions, some of which have been developed, while others are being worked on and they all play a part in how we think the sector can contribute to the reduction of emissions.

Deputy Thomas Pringle asked about forestry and its acceptability. There is no doubt that the afforestation targets included the national afforestation plan are a central plank for the country, especially the land use sector in contributing to emission reductions. We are not reaching these targets but undershooting them. It is an issue if we do not achieve the level of carbon sequestration we hope to achieve as it makes the challenge of reducing emissions even bigger. There is an issue surrounding the acceptability of forestry as we have seen in recent months, particularly in County Leitrim, where people are very concerned about large-scale planting. The forestry sector will have to take people's concerns on board. Ultimately, individuals make a decision to plant their land, whether they do so themselves or bring in a forestry company, and it has to be done in a way that is acceptable to the communities around them. It is important that forestry be distributed throughout the country and that it is not all localised in particular areas. That is important from the perspective of public acceptability.

There is also a question about the types of forests which we plant. We are undershooting our targets for broad-leaf planting and need to address that issue. The issue of clear-felling was raised in the earlier session. We need to move more towards continuous cropping and a felling-type system rather than have blanket clear-felling. Much needs to be done on how we communicate the benefits of forestry and help to allay people's concerns in particular locations. The country has a low percentage of its land planted. It is now 11% and when I was in school which was not today or yesterday, it was 4%. Therefore, we have almost tripled the amount of forestry compared to what we it was 40 years ago. The national target is to increase the level to around 18%, which would still be low by European standards but it represents a lot of land that has to be used for forestry.

Senator Paul Daly asked for our view on organics and the role of the organic sector as a solution. We are very supportive of the organic sector. We have dedicated specialists who help farmers involved in organic production systems and no doubt organic farming has a role to play. There is a certain demand for organic produce. The role of agriculture is to meet differing demands for food. Some people want meat and plant-based food, while others want organics. Agriculture has to supply all of these needs. There is a role for organics which has increased as a proportion of our land use in recent years, which is welcome.

If the whole country went organic, I do not think it would be any good for the organic sector because it is a relatively niche market. If the market is flooded, nobody makes anything out of it, so that is not a solution in itself to the climate issue. It should also be borne in mind that the output per hectare on an organic system is lower, and we must be mindful of food security as well as climate change. We need to continue to produce food, as does the rest of the world, in increasing amounts. Organic has its role but will not solve the climate issue of itself.

I agree with Deputy Healy-Rae about the importance of agriculture in rural Ireland. It is really what makes the fabric of rural Ireland. It is the biggest contributor to economic activity in rural Ireland. The Deputy asked how worried are we about the 2030 targets. There is no doubt but that it is a big challenge for the sector to reduce its emissions significantly. There is no target as yet for any sector. For agriculture there has not been a specific target to meet. For agriculture to make a significant contribution to reducing the country's greenhouse gas emissions is a big challenge, but there are ways and means of doing it. There are the things we talked about such as fertiliser and improving efficiencies that can make a contribution. Forestry can make a significant contribution, as can biofuels and biomass offsetting. However, these measures will not happen by themselves; they will require a continuous effort in research, knowledge transfer and policy to support their adoption.

The last question I will address was asked by the Chairman and concerned a suckler-type calf from a dairy cow. We are in collaboration with the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation, ICBF, in this regard. Rather than a dairy farmer just picking any Angus or Hereford bull to bull the cows after he or she has finished bulling with a Holstein bull, we recommend he or she pick one that is better for beef than the average. The research has shown that there is a big difference between, say, the worst Angus and the best Angus that one could pick from a beef perspective. Therefore, we are working with the ICBF to develop an index that would show dairy farmers that if they will be selling Angus or Hereford calves, they might as well sell good ones. This would allow them to select the best Angus or Hereford bulls from a beef perspective because they are making up a bigger proportion of our beef industry. As I said, about 60% of our national kill is now from the dairy sector. It will be a very important development that we try to maximise the value of the beef calf coming out of the dairy herd.

There are a number of matters left for Mr. Donnellan to address.