Brian Walsh (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. They have already answered many of the questions I had intended to ask. It is easy to understand why landowners or farmers who are experiencing financial distress might be encouraged to sign these contracts as an additional revenue stream. However, the sales pitch they hear and the glossy magazine they get at the doorstep or around the kitchen table is often dramatically different from the contracts that arise in the post subsequently. If farmers shake hands on a deal around the kitchen table they are very unlikely to withdraw from that when the paperwork arrives subsequently. If that is the case, it is unacceptable that they are being hoodwinked in this way.

Can the witnesses expand on how they are going from an initial lease to an option that extends, perhaps, over their entire holding? Do they have an opportunity to disengage from those contracts? Are there break clauses in the contracts? What is the witnesses' assessment of their representative body, the Irish Farmers Association, IFA, and its role in assisting vulnerable and distressed farmers in this scenario? The witnesses mentioned agricultural land being rezoned for industrial use. Does that mean they are sticking to existing development plans or are there requests coming in to rezone land in the counties involved?