Professor Alan Matthews:

These are terrific questions. On the question of Senator Pauline O'Reilly's worries about the impact on rural Ireland, if we look at the overall figures, first of all, in nominal terms, I agree that if we have inflation the real value of the CAP has been reduced. If we look at the budget for Ireland for the CAP in the current seven-year period from 2021 to 2027, in nominal terms it has been maintained - in fact, even slightly increased. There is the same level of funding. If we add to that the €1.5 billion the programme for Government indicated will be made available, in addition to the carbon tax revenue, it seems funding should not be the issue. It is a question of making the right use of it and making sure that we target that funding in a way that rewards farmers for those practices that are benefiting society. It also sends a signal that there are by-products - we are talking here about greenhouse emissions - which we need to reduce.

It seems to me that it is a question of targeting the payments but, overall, the payments will be maintained in their value. I very much agree with the Senator on the importance of the Climate Change Advisory Council. I had the privilege of being a member of it in its first term. It has a valuable role to play as an independent source of expertise, both advising the Government but also holding the Government to account where targets are not being met. I am sure the current council will continue to fulfil that role. Establishing the council was an important step for Ireland. We were one of the early movers in that. We see a similar body now being proposed as part of the European climate law at European level and other member states are introducing such councils, which are important.

On the forestry side, I must admit I am not an expert on forestry. It is clear, and Ms O’Neill already highlighted this, that planting rates have fallen quite dramatically. The rotation period, particularly in the commercial forestry species such as spruce and pine, is relatively short. We had significant planting ten or 20 years ago. Those forests are now coming to maturity. They will be cut but we are not replacing those at a sufficient rate. The deforestation that will occur over the coming ten years will exacerbate the problem that our land sector is a net emitter rather than a net source.

How does one reverse that? There are significant financial incentives in place. I understand there are some real problems in terms of licensing. There may be others here who are more familiar with this. As I said, this is not an area in which I am fully expert, so I will stop at this point.