Mr. John Comer:

I would like to refer back to some of the comments that have been made. I agree that the accident-free day proposal would not work. That is not to say that signage does not have a value. It certainly has a strong value. It gives a clear signal that the farmer is taking responsibility. The owner of any business has to take responsibility. That must be a key message. Nobody is trying to get off the hook here. We certainly have to take responsibility. Signage is very important in the context of the key question of how to disseminate information and make it relevant to each farmer. The ICMSA and Zurich Insurance, which are involved in the sustainable dairy quality assurance scheme, have developed new signs to be put up at the farm gate.

I would like to highlight a specific proposal that might be examined as part of any scrappage scheme. Perhaps a person who replaces a PTO shaft or buys a piece of safety equipment might be able to get some sort of VAT rebate on it, rather than having to pay 23%. It might not sound like much, but I suggest it could kickstart the idea in a person's mind that there might be something coming back from here. Perhaps that can be examined as a practical measure. I will not go back over what has already been mentioned about the knowledge transfer proposal, other than to say it might be one element of what is examined.