Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I agree with almost everything Deputy Barry said, but I note that he said nobody stays in farming unless they are making a profit and nobody would expect them to. There are a fair few farmers in the beef sector who are not making much of a profit other than what they are getting in direct payments. Many of the processors expect them to stay in the sector, and their business model is built on that. I have attended a few meetings in Clare on this issue. Some criticism was voiced that Department officials were not going out to meet farmers, and on behalf of those farmers, I have two specific questions. People from the artificial insemination side told people at these meetings about the case of a bull that was brought into Ireland that initially was considered to be a four-star bull but that was suddenly downgraded to a two-star rating. Those in AI are specialists in this area. In every other area and every other scheme farmers have to do their utmost, and they must act in good faith.

If one declares the right amount of land, the land does not change. It is still the same acreage and bushes do not suddenly appear, although I accept there can be some doubt about what land is or is not eligible.

If the Department officials were to go out and meet the ordinary farmers they serve, how would they guarantee them that on 30 June 2019 they would have genotyped four-star and five-star bulls? What could they do to be certain that they meet that requirement and that 50% of the number of reference animals with regard to cows were four-star or five-star quality? I am talking about what they could do to be certain in this respect as opposed to acting in good faith because acting in good faith is not enough for this scheme. They either make the cut or they do not. That is my first specific question.

At both of the meetings I attended, I noted that the age profile of the participants was quite old, which is not unusual to find at farmers' meetings across Ireland. Deputy Ó Cuív said that many farmers will not be able to comply with all these technicalities. They have been farming a long time, they are heading towards retirement and they are not interested in this. That came through at those meetings and although there were a few young farmers there who were interested in this, they were new entrants. They did not have a suckler herd in 2014. They are considering moving on to another type of farming or they are taking over a farm. What would the officials say to them? How can they get involved in this scheme in a worthwhile way? I presume they are the target for this scheme in that they are the future of Irish agriculture, but such farmers seem to be penalised by the terms of this scheme. Will any moves be made to include them in the scheme?