Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Member after member is asking the ICBF to go back to the table. Mr. Coughlan is very robust in what he is saying. I will give him a bit of advice. He is far more experienced than I am. I am an ordinary humble human being. One should often take the advice of an ordinary humble human being, however. My advice is to go back to the table on this. If the ICBF does not take into account the show societies here, it is going to wreck every agricultural show in Ireland. They are a major part of rural Ireland. The breeders societies put a significant amount into the shows. Hundreds of people turn out to those shows to look at the quality of the animal. That is a fact; Mr. Coughlan will not deny it. We see the best production of cattle anywhere in the world. Mr. Coughlan was correct when he said the ICBF has the remit for the suckler beef scheme. It has the remit, but what is its remit? The witnesses can correct me if I am wrong. Its remit is to have a slimmed-down suckler beef section. That is the remit it is coming from, and it is not going to work. I ask Mr. Coughlan to take into account the damage this will do to agricultural shows throughout the country, which are such an important part of rural life.

A matter that has not yet been mentioned is the value of agricultural exports. Last year, they accounted for €19.5 billion, with 150,000 in the agricultural business. There was reference to changes all over the world. We all know environmental changes have to be made but changes to agriculture in other parts of the world might be different from changes in Ireland because we can produce the class product. That is a fact known throughout the world. I ask Mr. Coughlan to respond on those points.