Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for that response. The context of this conversation has changed dramatically because the Russian invasion of Ukraine has exposed fault lines in global, EU and domestic policy on food security. Of course, Sinn Féin recognises that the Government is limited in its ability to respond to geopolitical events and global commodity markets and, therefore, any response, while needing the immediacy the Minister has mentioned for this year and next year, also needs to be long term. One area in which the Government can play a role is in incentivising increased tillage production. That requires targets. We have approximately 324,000 ha. The land under production has fallen by 42% since 1980 ,and 15% in recent years. Will the Minister examine setting targets for the sector?

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