Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

All the points raised by Deputy Sherlock are very important. I do not favour additional funding going to pillar two. Pillar one has been extremely beneficial not just for farmers, but also for protecting the environment and ensuring that Europe has security of food supplies for its citizens. That was the second article of the Treaty of Rome in 1957 and it is as appropriate today as it was for the founding fathers of the EEC. All these issues are being discussed at the Cabinet sub-committee on climate change. The Deputy rightly mentioned the leading research and advisory role of Teagasc, which has done phenomenal research work for my Department. It works closely with the Department's inspectorate on what is achievable. Together with New Zealand's farmers, Ireland's agricultural sector is regarded as having one of the most efficient food production systems in the world. Therefore we cannot reduce methane gas emissions that much. A lot of research has gone into the dietary requirements of animals, including grass breeding as well as animal breeding. There has been phenomenal progress in that regard.

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