Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief. I thank all the four gentlemen who have spoken and look forward to hearing from the three who have not spoken. Most of the questions have been posed very articulately by previous speakers. I have never been a dairy farmer and know very little about the industry. I am like an alien who has arrived in from Mars looking down on this beautiful green country. All the aliens who are looking down must think we are completely mad from the point of view that we are producing a healthy product that everyone loves and needs and everyone consumes every day. I love pictures. The retailer is making 85%, the processor is making 39% and the men who are doing the milking are left with 38%. Clearly 20% of those in the industry have left and another 20% are thinking of leaving. We have reached a pivotal moment in the history of the dairy industry and we are close to a crisis. I apologise that one of my questions is not about today's subject. It is still cold out there, the grass is not growing and no silage is being cut. How is the fodder crisis going to affect the industry? The industry cannot afford anything to go wrong or any push in the wrong direction. Everything must go perfectly on this margin, otherwise those in the industry will not be able to eat. I want to know a little more to educate the likes of me. What is the relationship between the processor and the producer? The producers are very powerful people, we must have milk. I am not au fait with the law in place but surely there must be some way we can help to push for an increase for the industry. At present the retailers are winning, somebody mentioned earlier that it is called footfall. Sometimes there might be half price barbecues because we are coming to that season to encourage us to go in to Tesco or Lidl. However, for 365 days of the year we all go to the shop for the cheapest milk but that has to stop because an industry is dying in front of us.