Gino Kenny TD will host a presentation on the potential of the hemp industry in the AV room in Dáil Éireann at 3pm on Tuesday the 2nd of July.
The speakers and their topics include:
Marcus Mc Cabe – (Hemp Farmer); Capturing environmental and rural regeneration potentials of hemp farming
Kate Mullaney – (Hemp Farmer-processor); Building a food business in rural Ireland
Liam Donohoe – (Academic); Developing standards for hemp building materials
Dermot Kavanagh – (Pharmacist); understanding the endocannabinoid system and how CBD food supplements work in the human body.
Chris Allen – (Executive Director Hemp Federation Ireland (HFI)) – Situating the Irish hemp industry in the context of Global, European and Domestic policy objectives. Hemp Federation Ireland (HFI) is the policy research and advisory body for the Irish hemp industry. Membership spans the domestic value chain and includes the largest employer in the sector in Ireland. HFI is the only independent representative body for the hemp industry in Ireland.
Gino Kenny TD says: “Hemp is globally recognised as a uniquely versatile bioresource with the capacity to provide high quality, renewable materials and chemicals across a range of industrial sectors. Industrial hemp is scientifically proven to absorb more CO2 per hectare than any forest or commercial crop, its sequestration potential is prolific and its capacity to impact industrial carbon emissions is immense. Hemp is also the most complete plant based protein we have, it contains all nine essential amino acids and has considerable nutritional, health and medicinal properties.
“The nutritional food value of hemp, its soil-carbon sequestration properties and low energy requirements, its capacity to improve the yield of rotation crops and to reduce the impact of afforestation on agricultural land-use, as well as its employment and rural regeneration potential, means that hemp more than comprehensively fits the profile for IPCC “transition pathways that carry the highest co-benefits – including for human health.
“The economic and environmental benefits of hemp farming and industrial development in Ireland are poorly understood by policymakers, this presentation will generate greater understanding of the range of potentials.”
