Mr. Barry Lynch:

A number of Deputies have stated they will talk to the Department, Teagasc and the ICBF. That is the right thing to do to find out what is going on. The general gist of what it will state is that it is worth it and that it has achieved so much because it decided to do it itself. Obviously, we would not agree with it.

Getting back to the European Union probe, the answers the Department has documented for the European Union in terms of what the problem is indicate that the Department does not do software. It has a bizarre view. There are farmers who will ring me to say they do not need to pay their annual subscription to me because they are no longer going to use my software. When I ask why, they say they can use agfood.ie, ICBF HerdPlus and Teagasc for their accounts, that they have a solution offered by the State. However, the State is saying to the European Union that it does not do software. We find this strange. While all of our functions are being duplicated by the State on the commercial side - Teagasc and the ICBF - the Department states it does not do software. It almost thinks it cannot admit that it is doing it because immediately it would have a problem. When the committee is talking to it, it should ask the question: is it doing software for farmers? It will be interesting to hear the answer. It is the core part of its attitude. As it does not do farm software, it asks, "What is the problem?"