Dr. Martha O'Hagan-Luff:

I could not agree more. We cannot afford to wait. We need to take action straightaway. Nature is very complex, as are ecosystem services. We never have perfect data but we need to get on with it and take action.

ACRES is a good first step in the right direction but it could do a lot more. It could be ambitious and targeted and not capped in terms of how much farmers can gain from taking actions. It is interesting to read the objectives of the CAP. Having moved away from food production, there are now ten objectives, of which food production is just one. It is very consistent with the objectives of the CAP. The Deputy asked about targets and whether we should not just try to achieve certain things. I agree completely. We need to get on with it and soon. We do not know everything but there are certainly some very straightforward things where we know what good look likes. Where we have gaps in our knowledge, that is fair enough but we know we need more trees. Only 2% of our land is covered by native woods. This is way behind the European average so that is very straightforward. We know that when planted in the right place, native trees are very good for biodiversity, water filtration, etc., so we do not need to wait on that. We know that is good and that we should invest in it. We know rewetting bogs is very positive for carbon sequestration and native woodlands are very good for biodiversity.

We have some EU-funded projects. The Burrenbeo project, which has been running for 13 years, was funded by EU LIFE. It is no longer funded but has received awards in Europe for doing biodiversity very well on farms. Another project, the Wild Atlantic Nature project, is also funded by EU LIFE. Part of the mandate of these EU-funded projects is to gain private capital as a result. Through the co-operation of ACRES, we have pockets of more targeted funding.

I do not think we will ever get there in the sense of this being perfect but I agree we should get on with it and acknowledge that we might mistakes. We fund the arts, health and education. How is the return on investment in the arts measured? It is very difficult to do so but the Government still does it. It recognises that the arts are a public good. People think financial accounting is very black and white and everything is known but it is not. Accounting has evolved over decades and still does not get things right. There are still grey areas but it does not mean companies were not asked to produce accounts.