Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael)
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I wish Mr. Herlihy well in his new position. I have a couple of questions. Reference has been made to climate change. When the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, was established some decades ago it was about quality, affordable, traceable food and now farmers and the agriculture sector must take on board environmental obligations as we learn more about science and the interaction of human beings with the environment. There has been much talk about culling the national herd and extreme suggestions such as veganism, for example. I wish to ground the debate a little. Professor Boyle has been pretty upfront about the situation and our climate change targets in the context of agriculture. Although great strides have been made since the early 1990s in reducing carbon emissions, and we are leaders in many respects, the national herd has increased with consequential difficulties. People have spoken about reducing the national herd and planting land but at the end of the day we are talking about food. I do not hear too much about where we are going to get protein or the suitability of crops. I have not heard it said that we should plant edible beans. My understanding is that it is a precarious endeavour, especially for food production in this country. I do not think we have been given the full picture in the sense that the message has not gone out that we produce food in a carbon-efficient manner and for the alternatives to be outlined. Taking food from some country in the tropics that happens to efficiently grow beans or other protein food crops also creates a significant carbon footprint. If, for some reason, we got out of beef, some other country would move to fill the gap. I would welcome some comments in that regard from Professor Boyle. In some ways there is a lot of hysteria around climate change and we must deal with it, but we cannot crush people in the process.

Teagasc has been very proactive in the area of soil management and training farmers in how to get the most out of soil, and in particular maximising grassland production. We have had what one could call extreme weather events in recent years and in general the weather seems to be a lot more precarious. Does Teagasc chart a maximum stocking level for the fodder and grass we can produce and whether we have stocking levels in excess of that? My point is not related to reducing carbon emissions but relates to the point at which we could not feed our own animals. Has that point been established? What studies have been undertaken in that regard?

I had the pleasure of attending a presentation ceremony in Mayo last Friday night for green certificates.

It was great to see there all the participants and their families and to learn of all the work done. The participants were rightly very proud to receive their green certificates.

With regard to land mobility, how many students undertake farming courses with Teagasc but do not have land or are hoping to get land? I am not talking about cases where a parent is going to leave one land but about people who are a step removed and just hoping to get land. How many are doing the course and hoping to enter the food industry in some area as opposed to farming? Could I have a breakdown of the figures? How many people are actually waiting for land? How many people with no farming background do the green certificate course? It is mainly people from a farming tradition who go into agriculture.