Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Professor FitzGerald for his presentation and his ongoing work in advising us in his role as chairman of the council. The priority recommendations in the committee's report impose a large degree of the encumbrance of the work that needs to be done on the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and on Teagasc. We must see those bodies being held to account. I am confident the Department will deliver in this regard. In fact, one of the best presentations to the committee was from that Department, which showed a clear understanding of the scale of the problem.

We need to see actions and timelines to implement and promote the uptake of these measures, particularly the mitigation measures and the pathways mentioned by Teagasc. We need movement on that.

I am taken by the witnesses' analysis and think it is on the money regarding what is happening in agriculture. There is an intensification in the dairy sector in recognition of market demand. At a recent conference I attended, I heard somebody from the dairy sector talking about a 30% increase in the dairy cow herd in the past three to four years. This person is working on the basis of a further 30% increase in the next four to five years. What are the witnesses' views on that?

There is a very specific reliance on the suckler beef herd on less good land, possibly more as a way of life than as a means to an income. This cannot be underestimated. Professor FitzGerald's final comment probably spoke to that. Turning a suckler beef farmer into a forester will not happen. There is a connection with the land and the production, purchase and sale of animals that is a way of life. It is like telling a musician to go and play basketball. It is as stark as that for farmers in that sector. The overintensification on the dairy side has a very significant knock-on effect. Notwithstanding the emissions related to it, it is having a very considerable knock-on effect because it is increasing supply into the beef market and reducing the price. Have the witnesses any views on the strategy around our dairy herd and dairy output? How do they view that?