Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming in at short notice and for their opening statement. Before I go into my questions, it is important to say that I think a picture is being painted here that farmers are confused or do not understand, when, in fact, I think they understand very well. They understand very well even though this has been extremely badly handled up until this point. Unless something is done and changes are made from here on in, this is not going to go well.

The Irish Beef and Lamb Association held a meeting last Sunday, with several cattle societies and breeders present. The cattle societies have been very clear as to their reading of the change in the indexes and the impact it will have on farmers engaged in SCEP. I think it is important to put that on the record. The Irish Limousin Cattle Society has said it does not have confidence in the updated run of indexes. It believes it will have a detrimental impact on the breed and their breeders. The Irish Cattle Society has rejected the changes made and it is concerned about the process used to implement them. It has said no breeders or breed societies were given any input. The Irish Blonde Cattle Society has said the criteria to evaluate their breed is not fit for purpose and that all decision-making regarding their stock has been stripped from them. They have no faith in the ICBF as it stands. The Irish Simmental Cattle Society has said that the changes are greatly devaluing animals and leading to worries about farm viability. It has highlighted a number of apparent flaws in the new indexes and it is seeking independent auditing.

I spoke to one farmer who told me that he has, overnight, suffered a financial loss of more than €100,000. He has embryos that were worth €1,000 each but that are now worthless. He has had to tell his daughter that she cannot go to college. This is the impact of this change. It is not enough to come here and say there is an impact and that the ICBF acknowledges it. It must be willing to do something about it. It was said several times that in six or ten years' time it will be said that we sleepwalked suckler farmers into disaster. For the sake of a number of months, though, which is really nothing, I think it would be far better for the ICBF to pause what it has done, and I do not buy the thing that there would be confusion about this index and that index. The new index should be paused. The old index will not fall apart overnight. The stakeholder forum that the ICBF should have held several months ago should be held now. This process should be done right. The ICBF should bring the farmers with it. I say this because with carbon emissions, the environment or anything else, if you do not bring the farmers with you, then it is not going to work. This is the case right across agriculture, right across the board.

I ask the ICBF, as a board, to consider this point. For the sake of a very small amount of time, the world is not going to fall apart if there is a return to the old index and then undertake this change properly, as should have been done in the first place. I ask the ICBF, as a board, to consider doing this. I do not buy the argument that in six to ten years we will have sleepwalked into the situation mentioned. This change should be made now and got right, instead of continuing on as is. I think the word Mr. Coughlan used, in relation to "carnage", sums up very well what is being done here to farmers.

The opening statement referred to there being some confusion "Despite our best efforts to engage with representative groups ahead of the change". Can the witnesses, very briefly, tell us who, specifically, the ICBF engaged with ahead of the changes announced?