Mr. Joe Healy:

I acknowledge the honesty of a number of Senators in highlighting the fact that they might not milk cows or herd sheep every morning. There is really no part of Ireland too far removed from rural Ireland. As Senator Black rightly said, she has an uncle and cousins on the farm, and there are very few people anywhere in Ireland that would not have direct family members involved.

The first point raised concerned cheddar cheese. Every Member would have received our document at some stage. Of our cheddar, 78,000 tonnes or 82% goes to the UK. There is not really an alternative. In the past two days we have been in the Netherlands and Germany, and we had a meeting with representatives of Ornua at its Kerrygold plant yesterday in Germany. The taste of Europeans does not tend towards cheddar, so as I highlighted in my speech earlier, there is not really an alternative there now for the cheddar market in the UK. As the person who put the question states, it is probably a question of taste and culture.

There was a question as to whether it is aspirational to believe we can hold trade with the UK. We must believe we can do so. I should make it very clear there are no winners here and no matter what way we look at this, it is a damage limitation exercise right across all sectors and particularly in the agricultural area. A number of things have been said by UK and European politicians but perhaps the best thing to do now is allow British Prime Minister May and UK Government officials get on with their election. We have always said that statements are made during an election that may not be carried through thereafter. I say to European politicians not to get involved.