Ms Louise Byrne:

From our point of view, the reality is there is a dependence on imported feed for our livestock. Obviously, we want to grow the tillage area and to increase the amount of grain, but we are not going to be able to replace imports. The reality is that we have livestock to feed and we are dependent on imports. There were a lot of questions in the last session about the volume of the imports of feed. We have the data and we can happily provide it to the committee. It is very much our intention that we want to do that. We feel that there are opportunities to increase the area under tillage. At the moment, we are building the foundations to increase the attractiveness of tillage. We believe that Irish tillage has significant opportunities in terms of its carbon footprint. We have supported ICBF, Bord Bia and Teagasc through the development of the AgNav platform and the tillage module in that specifically to try to capture the carbon footprint of Irish grain. We are working collaboratively with the Cereals Association of Ireland, Bord Bia and players within the market to try to create those value-added opportunities that will differentiate and command a premium for Irish grain, whether that is in food or drink. We are at the stage where we are putting in place the building blocks for that. We will get the proof points and when we have them, we hope there will be a return from the marketplace for Irish grain.