Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. Certainly, there is an urgency around this. I have outlined my ambition to make sure that Ireland is the first country in the world to have genotyped our full beef and livestock herd. That is something that I am now taking forward with my own Department and stakeholders. We are assessing and identifying the verifiable emissions reductions from doing that, and also the economic potential in relation to it. There is a serious job of work to be undertaken here. We are ahead of the curve in the extent to which we use genotyping currently through the various schemes I have outlined. We want to ensure that all animals are genotyped and that the benefits of that are felt by farmers in their productivity, profitability and sustainability. It has really exciting potential and can ensure that we remain at the cutting edge of the beef industry internationally and at a peak in relation to the sustainability of how we produce our beef. I look forward to working with the Deputy, as Chairman of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and with all stakeholders on how we can take this forward and ensure we can make it happen.

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