Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. I completely disagree with my colleague. The Minister's speech was well balanced and reassuring. It was a good appraisal of where we are going on this. His conclusion spoke of collaboration, co-operation and collective responsibility, words that sum up where we need to go and the importance of this issue. We have to balance how we execute our responsibilities on climate change with our responsibility to farmers. Our farmers are very environmentally friendly compared with those of other countries. The statistics speak for themselves. The carbon footprint of beef production in Ireland is many times lower than the equivalent in other countries such as China.

There are specific examples of where we have achieved best practice in collaboration, co-operation and collective responsibility of communities and farmers. One, in my area of north Clare, is the Burren LIFE Project which the Minister has visited more than once. The Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Phil Hogan, has also visited the project, which has won several international awards. It farms for conservation and participants adhere to the principles of collective responsibility, co-operation and collaboration. They engage with farmers and the environment. The Burren is a unique landscape which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. People live on the Burren and run businesses in the area, as do farmers who look after the land and run businesses. Dr. Brendan Dunford promoted the idea of farmers working on the land in an environmentally friendly way to conserve it. The principle was that farmers were not merely earning a living from the land and supporting their families but also acted as ambassadors for the area with the people who visited from across the world. They were the guardians and protectors of the land. The methods and production systems adopted by Dr. Dunford and his team ensured the environment was protected and the necessary work would be done to secure, nurture and promote the natural habitat of the Burren. It is an example of how we can co-operate and collaborate and take collective responsibility for dealing with climate action.

My good friend Senator Lombard is driving the practice whereby the Seanad bring Ministers in to discuss compliance with our 2020 obligations in their areas. It is a good initiative for the Seanad which has been a guardian of what is done right in this country. We did this in the Seanad Public Consultation Committee which had many projects, including a farm safety module for which I was rapporteur. I welcome the Minister who is doing a superb job in extremely challenging and difficult circumstances.

On Brexit, more than 50% of our beef exports go to the United Kingdom, with a further 44% going to the rest of the European Union. Only 6% go to the rest of the world. This Minister faces enormous challenges. He is working in our national and economic interests and I wish him well.

I must apologise to the Minister as I will not be here for his closing remarks. I have a meeting on University Hospital Limerick with the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris.