Professor Gerry Boyle:

This is a real challenge. I have gone on record in public that there is an incompatibility between the trajectory for cow numbers and our greenhouse gas obligations by 2030. Teagasc, along with the Department and other bodies researching this area, has identified mitigation and sequestration options. They will not be sufficient to offset the trajectory in terms of cow numbers. That is the reality and has to be faced up to. The Deputy made the point about awareness, the importance of identifying the problem in the first instance and then coming up with solutions. That is a dilemma for the industry.