Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is fine. Dairy is a key player in the agriculture industry. We have seen all the ambitious targets set out in Food Harvest 2020 and Food Wise 2025. The joint committee, in its report on managing volatility in the dairy sector, identified price volatility as a potential hazard in terms of dairy expanding and achieving its full potential for rural areas and the country as a whole. It is important that we try to play our part, whether with the banks or the Minister and Government of the day with regard to dealing with state aid rules or developing new market management tools which could give a degree of certainty to farmers, as primary producers. The industry cannot be based on the producer of the raw material not knowing whether it will be necessary in three years' time to dip into reserves or borrow money, having paid tax in the one good year where the business made a decent profit. That is not the best model and our goal is to address that issue.

If it is agreeable to the remaining two delegations, we will ask them to make their presentations and take questions together. I ask Deputy Deering to take the Chair for ten minutes while I attend to another matter.