Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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We are overgrowing the national herd at the cost of increasing our overall CO2 emissions. That is my point. Saying that this is not the problem, that this activity could be carried out in the Amazon forest or New Zealand, is a bit like the Minister opposing my bill which would prevent the issuance of any more exploration licences for fossil fuels by saying that if we do not do it they will do it in Iraq or Saudi Arabia. It is saying the same thing. It is a bit of climate change denial.

The last point I will make is that all of this means the science has settled on climate change. It was not settled previously. Reference was made to the size of the herd in 1990. Most countries did not actually accept the science then. It is accepted now, except by a few oddballs like President Donald Trump. It is mostly accepted. Now that we have acceptance let us look reality in the face. We are emitting too much carbon into the atmosphere. I repeat, the atmosphere, not just Ireland. Therefore we have to deal with it. Dealing with it in the agricultural sector is hugely important. We need a balanced, nuanced and diverse approach to agriculture, but overgrowing the national herd is not balanced, nuanced or diverse. I would welcome a national dialogue on this.