Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I know agriculture and the day-to-day lives of farm families would not occupy Deputy Paul Murphy’s daily workload or time very much. We have to consider the important role that agriculture plays in food production in this country. It is also important to know and understand that because we do not have the industrial base that other developed countries have, agriculture makes up a bigger proportion of our national emissions. Reaching the 22% part of the range would see transformational change in our agriculture systems. Our starting point is that we are one of the most efficient food producers in the world in terms of carbon emissions. Our food production is grass- and pasture-based and we have a very good system from an animal welfare point of view, as well as from an emissions point of view. We have to build on and improve that even further, as must all other sectors of society, and in a way that continues to produce food. As the Deputy will know, across the world it is becoming increasingly hard to produce food given the climate challenge we are all facing. It is important that we continue to play an important role for our farm families-----

See this speech in context