Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

If one's solution is to reduce the number of cattle, it is a simplistic way of looking at the problem and one is not looking at the problem of GHGs properly. That is a scientific view.

I would refer the Minister of State to TResearch, which is a Teagasc publication in this regard. Perhaps he might acknowledge that looking at the areas of animal genetics, animal management, animal nutrition and performance stimulants would be a better way to reduce GHGs like methane and that there is a scientific basis for doing that. Would he acknowledge that any proposals to implement the McCarthy report as it pertains to the scientific budget would have an impact on Teagasc's operations and on reducing methane emissions potentially in the long run? We need to take a more lateral view.

See this speech in context