Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Professor Boyle said there were 3,000 tillage farmers in the country and that 50% of the land being tilled was leased land. Does he have a breakdown of the average cost of the leased land? What is his opinion on the viability of leasing land for tillage?

Professor Boyle also mentioned alternative crops. In my part of the country there has been talk of the abolition of beef quotas in Europe. How viable does he think sugar beet could be if it was started again? Since the abolition of the sugar industry there has been, ironically, a continuous decline in the tillage sector and it is clear that the two go hand in hand. The eucalyptus crop is mentioned in some of the papers with which we have been presented. Has there been much research in that area?

Finally, one of the big things in the last round of CAP was greening. Has that had a negative effect on the tillage sector? Does Deputy Kenny have any questions?