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

I apologise that I had to slip out earlier and perhaps my question was asked, but is there much interest in this initiative at present? As a Glanbia supplier, any initiative that will help the beef industry must be welcomed. Obviously, there might be some issues that could be teased out further, but if we carry on as we have been over recent times, we will end up in difficulty. There is an old saying that if one keeps doing the same thing, one will always get the same result. We have seen that over time. The beef industry must change and diversify over the next period so it can be sustainable for the future. Hence the discussions in that regard in this committee over the past month or six weeks.

For many years I have seen that dairy farmers are more keen to use technology to progress. Tillage farmers use it to a lesser extent, but dairy farmers are particularly keen to use technology.

We have seen the results of that technology in recent times. Do the delegates agree there is a requirement for education in some parts of the beef sector in that regard? My view is that it should be a key focus of the meat industry to educate, bring farmers along and ensure they have confidence in the future.

Will the delegates indicate whether there has been much interest in their initiative and if they expect to be able to fill the quota for this year? Looking to the future, do they intend to sell their message and programme? If they have filled their quota by the end of the year, will they assess where they are after year one and go from there?