Dr. Pierre-Marie Aubert:

I thank the Deputy for the question; she got straight to the point. I will take the end of the question first, namely, the CAP. We have to keep in mind that the agrifood sector in Europe is the first economic sector in terms of GDP creation. I am not saying I am for or against it; it is a matter of fact. In that context, another aspect has to be kept in mind. According to the Directorate General for Trade, it is expected that 90% of the economic growth in the agrifood sector will come from exports to third countries. One of the key options at the Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development is to make sure that Europe remains the top agrifood exporter in the world and that it increases its market share worldwide in terms of the products for which we are the best placed. Irish production of dairy and meat is seen as a sector in which we have good competitive advantages. I do not believe there is the political will to stop that. On the contrary, we will say that we are able to produce dairy products and meat in Ireland that are climate efficient. The best option will be to make sure that is the produce that is consumed worldwide rather than other products that would be less carbon efficient. That is basically the narrative.

On the 1.5o Celsius in the IPCC report and any links, we talk constantly about the need to change the demand and so on. I do not know the position in China, India or elsewhere but we have been working at a European level in different countries and it is clear that the way dairy consumption has evolved has been driven by the supply. The fact that French people, and I guess it is the same in other countries, now consume 400 g of dairy products a day is partly the result of a deliberate strategy on the part of processors and farmers who saw that for the production to be sold on the market, they needed French people to eat more dairy products. My point is that if we have been able to drive people towards more dairy produce consumption, we shall be able to drive them towards less dairy produce consumption. Who will do that and on what basis? We foresee some potential, which needs to be quantified, to reduce the overall consumption and production at EU level while keeping farmers' incomes constant if we go for quality, climate-friendly production. For example, as the food share has declined to approximately 10% of the annual household budget, there is room for improvement. It is possible to increase that to 15% or 18%.

Furthermore, in some areas - I am talking about France - an organic farm of 300 ha in arable crops can have up to seven persons employed full-time whereas another family in the same area may employ only one person. I am not saying that organic farming is necessarily better for the climate. That will depend upon the specific practices that are implemented at farm level, and we have to be cautious not to equate organic farming with climate-friendly farming. That is a very sensitive topic.