Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Professor Renwick, Mr. Bryan and Mr. Kilcline. The report and submission make some interesting observations. I wish to follow on form a point Deputy Ó Cuív made. One chart showed the reduction in cattle and sheep numbers. Cattle numbers have dropped considerably since reaching a peak in 1992, some 21 years ago.

No matter what mart is taking place across the country, there appears to be many suckler cows being sold, and likewise in factories. I think Deputy Ó Cuív was trying to make the following point. Will a subsidy, whether it is €30, €100 or whatever, actually halt the decline in numbers in the country? It is well known that a suckler cow makes no money. At the end of the day, a farmer is in business to make money. If he does not make money, he will not be able to keep going. Will a subsidy halt the decline in the number of suckler cows at the moment? Even if it was €200 per head, would it encourage more farmers to get into suckler cows? In the mid-1990s, sheep numbers went through the roof. Everybody got into sheep overnight. People who knew very little about sheep became sheep farmers and became experts on sheep. When they realised it was not all honey and roses, they had to go the other way, hence the big reduction in sheep very quickly, which has continued. They are obviously very labour intensive enterprises as well, and there is probably an issue in getting more manpower.

Are there any figures available on the age profile and type of farmer who farms suckler cows and sheep, compared with dairying? Perhaps I am wrong in suggesting that these tend to be older and when they get that bit older and less able to handle the manual work, they try to opt out. The cost of production is a big issue. Perhaps it should be examined in some way as well. I am sure there are figures on sucklers cows in particular. It is known that suckler cows generally do not make money, as the cow is being carried for much of the year and the cost of doing that is a big issue.