Mr. Denis Drennan:

I agree totally with the Deputy. The small farmer is the one who is hit because he or she does not have the ability to reduce and at the same time remain viable. We made that point earlier. We gave an example of a farm of 35 ha, which is only 87 acres. The farmer is at the maximum. With good land, he can have 98 cows. If we go to 170 kg N/ha, he will be down to 56 cows. With this number, how could he raise a family, pay bills, pay the mortgage and put kids through college?

I agree totally with the Deputy on sequestration but the problem is that no matter what we do as farmers on our farms at the moment, we cannot get credit for it. If I plant a forest on my farm, I cannot get credit from it to put against my farm emissions. Forestry is regarded as a change of land use. If I rewet a bog on my farm, I cannot get credit as it is deemed a change of land use. If I put up a wind turbine or put solar panels on my farm, the credit goes to the energy sector. If I had €20 million in loose cash and built an anaerobic digester, I would get no credit for it as it would go to the energy sector. This is the problem. Farmers need the politicians to change the rules. Everything I do wrong is held against me but, where all the things I could possibly do right are concerned, some other sector benefits. That is the unfairness of the system.