Michael Comiskey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Wall and Mr. Guerin and thank them for their informative presentation. The committee has had a number of hearings and there has been a great deal of consultation. There are many problems, particularly in the context of destocking with the wheel having gone full circle since 1997 when we were asked to take our sheep off the hills first. Many farmers purchased green land, put up sheep sheds and so on. As everybody has said, it takes a number of years to get the sheep used to being back on the hills. We witnessed something similar on the Cooley Peninsula following the foot and mouth disease outbreak. Farmers had this problem. They had to take their sheep off the hills and they found it difficult to get the sheep to breed when they put them back. Those of us who are used to working with sheep on commonages know it takes a number of years to build up the flock on the hills. There is a problem with dormant shareholders or older farmers who cannot farm anymore but do not want to sell their share. Legally, even if they want to sell the share, they cannot do so because it is attached to the holding in the lowlands.

We have to have collective agreement and we need all the shareholders to sit around the table. That could be aided by a departmental of Teagasc official or a REPS planner to guide them in the right way because there will be difficulties among the farmers. We have to get them around the table and then they can decide what they want to do in the future. For example, they could permit a neighbour or a younger farmer to graze their share. That would be the sensible approach to this.