Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To take up Deputy O'Keeffe's comments, we look at it from different perspectives. Sometimes I pick up the media commentary on this and I have a different reaction in this regard to that of Deputy O'Keeffe. That is not motivated by having a thin skin towards commentary on the efforts we have been making but rather the fact that all of this is played out in a transparent context with our competitors in the international marketplace. We make a lot of play out of our sustainable credentials, and rightly so, and this is a challenge for us that others in the marketplace could exploit. That is why we need to be measured in our commentary on it. That is not to mask the challenge in any way, it is not to pretend that it is not anything other than what it is but we need to be conscious that we export the overwhelming majority of what we produce in all commodity areas and we have quite good credentials in terms of our sustainability. I take the point that Deputy Penrose is making in terms of our targets and sustainability. By any international comparison, in dairy we are very good. While we have room to improve in beef we are quite good by international comparison also. If, however, we put this up in lights, there are competitors in the marketplace who will use that to their advantage. However, by and large the commentary has been measured and focused on the issue and resolutions to it. It has not been ignored, certainly not in the farming media that I have seen.

Deputy O'Keeffe asked an interesting question about TAMS. As we were paying out about €1 million to €1.5 million a week on TAMS grants the last time I checked, it is still a substantial interest in investment on farms. We have a current tranche of TAMS open. I have not seen the figures but it is due to close in another couple of days or a week but there is no indication that there is a slowdown of interest from farmers in investing. That is tied into this reason for a capital investment product.

The Deputy asked me whether I have a plan for culling. I do not. Some of the advice would suggest that in certain circumstances, culling is an instrument that could be used but that is an issue for every individual farmer to make a decision on him or herself, whether it is in the dairy or beef side. We need to have the most efficient herd that we possibly can and we need to play to our strengths in terms of sustainability and things like grassland management. We have had initiatives in the past like the Grass10 initiative. Grass measurement is hugely beneficial as an instrument but unfortunately very few farmers use it. Milk recording is an instrument in our dairy industry which is efficient but it could be more efficient and the low level of milk recording is a disappointment in the dairy industry because the knowledge on solids and proteins is at the farmer's fingertips along with all the other details that are needed to make informed decisions. We can do an awful lot more to improve our sustainability credentials.

The Deputy made the point that the wrong fellows might have received the credit the last time around. I have heard that point made before but repayment capacity for any loan will be an important criterion and banks operate on a commercial basis. They are ultimately for profit.