Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

What has been published refers to priority actions, for example, stone walls and God knows what else. Therefore, GLAS seems to be action driven as opposed to requiring a composite. To a certain extent, I have always believed that we should revert to the way farming was done up to the 1950s or even the 1970s, which was sustainable. Farmers figured out how the land worked and had plenty of labourers, which allowed them to keep their stone walls in order, their farms tidy, etc.- some of them at any rate. Thirty years ago, we had the best quality of farmer for the sensitive landscapes in question where there is limited capacity and both overgrazing and undergrazing lead to serious trouble. An incredible balance is necessary. This is not achieved through positive action, but farming knowledge, yet there appears to be no reward for that. Indeed, there can be none under an action-driven plan.