Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. I have a few quick questions for Mr. Hayes. In the submission the Department will send to Europe, has the Department considered different scenarios? Has it considered front-loading to help family farms? There is talk that between a front-loading of 20 ha or 30 ha may help family farms. Has the Department considered the option? There is a worry not alone in Ireland but throughout Europe with the current proposal and the amount of bureaucracy. A lot of amendments have been lodged in Europe. Is the Department concerned that the bureaucracy that will be involved in the paperwork, with regulations and all of that, will make things more difficult?

Is any consideration being given to the idea of designating areas of the country for payments? Is the witness talking to the National Parks and Wildlife Service? I believe it should have its own budget.

Young farmers were raised as an issue earlier. I am aware that the EU is looking at new schemes to try to attract young farmers. As the Co-Chairman pointed out we are losing farmers at an alarming rate throughout Europe. Is a loan scheme being proposed for those young farmers to help them access money at low interest rates? It might help them to make their farms a bit bigger. Is the Department considering decoupling payments for the suckler cows?

Most people will say that it is cumbersome to get through the LEADER programme. Can it be simplified further?

On the issue of climate change, it is fair to say that Ireland is under a bit of pressure at the moment. We are aware that people from other countries are questioning how green we are in terms of our method of beef production. Is it a concern that there are 315,000 cattle being produced in feedlots here? Will that be tackled under the climate action plan? In Pillar 1 an ecosystem idea was mentioned. What was meant by that? How will we address that?

On trees, there are some counties, as the witnesses know, where forestry has become an issue of concern. People living in those areas are getting less and less. Are the witnesses looking for balance throughout the country, or are certain areas going to be taking the brunt of the development of forestry?

Why have we not spoken about anaerobic digesters or tried to promote them? That has been done in Northern Ireland but not in the South.

As Senator Conway-Walsh pointed out, there are farmers coming out of agri-environment options schemes, AEOS. GLAS has been rigid; if one wanted to make any kind of change in the GLAS scheme he or she would be pegged out of it. Is it envisaged that there would be a more flexible scheme?

Mr. Hayes spoke about the beef data and genomics programme, BDGP. The figures speak for themselves, considering how many beef farmers entered it and how many dropped out. We have the figures in front of us. The uptake in the beef sector has been disappointing. Farmers have valid concerns about it. Is there a simpler system which might help protect the beef sector? As was pointed out, some €4 billion worth of beef is exported out of this country. We can do it better. It is correct to say that cutting down the rainforest while there is green grass in Ireland is not the solution to save the world. People are going to eat regardless. There was reference to a report published last week which has been well enough discredited. One of the lead authors of that report is travelling the world on a jet costing €20 million and is taking exotic holidays, which speaks for itself. Are we looking at establishing a niche market in Europe? Do we want to be seen as the best at doing this in Europe because of our grass base - clover and other types of edibles were mentioned as well - rather than somewhere like Holland, the size of Munster, with cows looking out through a feeding barrier all day? Are we on a mission to promote what we can do best?