Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will give an example from the north-west area. More than 500 farmers from Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim are waiting to do the part-time green cert course. There might be some duplication on that waiting list because some of them may have also applied for some of the full-time agricultural colleges. That is a massive number. The part-time green cert course takes two and a half years from commencement to completion at one day per week.

I understand that by the autumn there may be five or six new classes across the Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim area for part-time green cert courses. At an average of 30 per class that could potentially provide places for up to 180 of those. That is not confirmed yet and it is dependent on a number of staff being allocated to the north-west region from what I think is 20 people that Teagasc is hiring later this year in the training section. If the north west gets six of those it might be able to run up to six courses. That might cater for 180 people, but the waiting list is over 500. That is a massive demand of by and large young farmers awaiting those courses. Once they get on a course it takes two and a half years to completion. The Minister should look to provide additional funding to Teagasc for training. It is particularly important to provide additional staff in the north west this summer and autumn so that it can address the waiting list.

On Brexit, I take the Minister’s point on the importance of all staff. Given the enormity of the issue, I question whether it is sufficient for that unit to have only three people; the Minister believes it is. However, given what the high-level Brexit unit is being asked to do, having three people sounds like an understaffed unit. I am not saying that is the be-all and end-all, but I do not believe the numbers in that unit are sufficient to deal with the task being asked of them.

I met some representatives of the processing industry this morning who stated that Bord Bia is understaffed and needs a significant increase on what has already been provided to it. I will ask them why they do not put these points to you if they put them to me. That was the feedback as recently as this morning.

Earlier Deputy Martin Kenny touched on opening new markets, including Brazil. Where does the Minister stand on his engagement with the European Commission?