Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Senators for their contributions. I am loath to pick out individual Senators and make points of refutation or acknowledgment because I have taken copious notes and we in the Department are actively considering the issue. If it were not for the enormity of Brexit, this issue would be front and centre of all our deliberations. As Senators will know, there is now a clear focus in every Department to form its own plan, and agriculture forms a large part of that. While I acknowledge the points made by Senators, the new focus is not due to legally binding and financially onerous obligations, and nor is it because the market says so, which, increasingly for a food-exporting island, also feeds into the consideration. As was clearly outlined by several Senators, it is matter of the planet's survival and future generations.

The main point I wish to communicate, not only to Senators but also to the listening public, is that Irish agriculture, in all its iterations inside and outside the farm, is up for that challenge. There is a context, however, within which that challenge must be met. Sometimes, if one were to believe all the negative commentary that is targeted at the agricultural sector, one would almost believe that food could be produced without producing greenhouse gases. If one wants to be fed, whether one is vegetarian, vegan or meat-eating, one must have a carbon footprint. Everybody has one. The Department's strategy is for our food production, whether in dairy, beef or any other commodity, to be as carbon efficient as possible and aspire to being global leaders in respect of carbon emissions per kilogram of output of whatever commodity. Our aim to be as efficient as possible is one leg of a three-legged stool.

Another issue is sequestration. I am sorry but we cannot speak out of both sides of our mouth about it. Sequestration is a fabulous-sounding word. How is it spelled? T-R-E-E-S. We need to grow more trees; it is as simple as that. We cannot talk, on the one hand, about sequestration and the need for it while, on the other hand, sending a negative message about forestry. We in the Department are the first to acknowledge that we have not always got it right. We have conducted a mid-term review of our forestry strategy, which we will examine in the context of the future Common Agricultural Policy to determine how the two can be integrated. We need to plant more trees and consider soil-----