Mr. Jack Nolan:

I support what Mr. Callanan said. A total of 15% of infant milk formula in the world is produced from Irish milk. This is a value-added product that must be above reproach. We must be sure of exactly what we are doing. I do not think we should be too pessimistic about the opportunities for Irish agriculture. The Department is investing heavily in knowledge transfer and knowledge exchange. There are huge opportunities there. Only 10% of Irish soils are at optimal fertility for phosphorous, potassium, lime and so on. If we look at what we are producing at the moment, we can see that there are opportunities to get that right and produce more from less so we produce more efficiently. The Department is investing very heavily in knowledge transfer over the next couple of years of RDP. A total of 20,000 farmers are participating at the moment in discussion groups and so on. It is an investment of €100 million. Teagasc is very well resourced for knowledge transfer, farm advisers on the ground and research. We have 800 agricultural advisers so when one compares us to countries across Europe, particularly the UK, one can see that the number of advisers compared to farmers is very good. That is where we will see change - by improving soil fertility and changing practice on farms - because small changes can make a big difference. That is one of the ways we can move forward.