Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome both groups to the committee. This is the committee's second week hearing submissions on the future of the tillage sector, and the importance of grain has been a prominent feature. The two presentations today have highlighted the massive success story of the end user and the plight of the producer. I ask the ABFI where between the two extremes is the cookie crumbling? It wants an Irish grain product, and to be using Irish-sourced grain must be an advantage for it, but the committee has heard over the past two weeks about people leaving the tillage sector. Is the alcohol industry not paying a fair price? The committee was told last week that 5 cent of the average price of a pint of Guinness in a pub goes to the farmer and that a 0.1% increase in the price of a pint could be worth €40 per tonne to farmers. There must be a problem if the drinks industry is as successful as it portrays and yet conventional grain growers last week and organic farmers today have highlighted the plight of their industry. I may be stating the obvious but I would like to hear the opinion of the ABFI on that issue.