Mr. Eddie Punch:

We have to be straight on this. There has been no real, proper engagement and consultation with the stakeholders who are meant to deliver this. One could say that transport and building will not meet their targets either. That is a reality that people are brushing over. In the farming sector, the 25% target was essentially horse-trading between two Ministers without any real engagement with farming organisations. We were then left with the food vision consultation. I am on the beef vision group. The food vision consultation has essentially been about the Department's ideas. We have tried to point out that they have significant issues with cost and how accounting for emissions is done. It is all very well to say that we will use a 3-NOP feed additive. How does that translate to the calculation of emissions from the national herd? How does the 3-NOP additive work on grazing systems? In New Zealand, there is a real concern that the additive just does not work. It costs €75 to €100 per animal per year. Farmers can do a plethora of things but they will generally be accounted for in other sectors. Those include solar panels, anaerobic digesters and planting trees. They go to land use, land use change and forestry, LULUCF, energy and so on.

This comes down to the Teagasc MACC. Farmers are willing to do what they can but there will not be complete buy-in from all farmers. There has been no consultation with us about how that would be achieved. There was certainly no consultation when the 25% figure was picked. We have been left with a gun to our heads to sign up to a set of proposals about the beef vision strategy.

There is any amount of deficiencies in these proposals in terms of houses to be funded. How we will get all the farmers to take it up and how will we encourage farmers to finish cattle earlier when the economics are going in the opposite direction and they cannot afford to buy the ration? Dairying is profitable. None of the other sectors is profitable. Realistically, we cannot advise a farmer to reduce the number of dairy cows because it would be an act of economic insanity. When we look at all of this there is complete delusion at Government level. The Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, in out in Sharm El-Sheikh with the Taoiseach today. We have repeatedly asked him for meetings this year. He is very good at talking about his vision for agriculture but he has not spoken to us.