Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have just one further question. We are heading towards 2020, so we will start all over again with these new schemes. Under WTO rules one cannot pay farmers for production. That may be right or may be wrong but that is the way it is.

It would be very desirable if there was much more co-operation between farming organisations and the groups represented here today to come up with environmental schemes which would do more for the environment than the present schemes. It would also reward the farmers because they cannot live on scenery. Reward the farmers and make it profitable for them to stay in business and do a type of farming that maximises the protection of nature, which is not a non-farming practice and which is where we are heading. It is a type of farming that is compatible with good nature projects. GLAS and the agri-environment options scheme are too confined when it comes to dealing with environmental issues and do not really reward for positive action. Putting it at its simplest, the easiest way to get money under those schemes is to do very little because one will not be penalised and will be much less vulnerable to penalties. We need to have this debate now rather when these schemes are on top of us.