Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I hope that Deputy is happy that it is I who will respond to this point. When he talks about people being part of a narrative, people on that side of the House have been part of a narrative for a long time. They have told farmers something that is not true, namely that the Government somehow wants to take cows off people and force a cull of the national herd. That is not the case. We have always been very clear about options, and supporting farmers in those options and supporting them financially to make the best decision for themselves. What was reported today in the Irish Independentis an options paper on modelling that was put forward by the Department. There is no final policy decision. This should not be a surprise to the House because we came together after targets were set for all of the different sectors. The sectoral target for a reduction in emissions for agriculture was set at 25%. We brought together all stakeholders in the beef and dairy sectors. We came up with a report that was published in full last autumn. It set out a number of options, one of which was a voluntary retirement exit scheme for those farmers who want to avail of it. What was reported today is one modular working out of the detail of what the options papers would look like. There has been no final decision in this area. I reassure the Deputy, unlike the narrative that has been delivered that farmers will be forced to take actions, that is not the case. Options will be open to them and they will be able to make their own decisions.

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