Mr. Brendan Gleeson:

I understand that this is in the public narrative. We have engaged with farm bodies on it. I understand the issue. This was not a permanent requirement. Beef prices are a function of demand and supply. If one goes to the EU College of Commissioners and states that we have a problem with beef prices, the Commissioners would respond that the problem must stem from oversupply or reduced demand. The logical reaction from the European Commission and the European taxpayer who is stumping up this money would be to require some kind of adjustment that will deal with this problem as they do not wish to throw money at people because that might exacerbate the problem and encourage people to increase production. From the point of view of the Commission, this was a perfectly reasonable provision to include in the regulation. I am not in the business of bashing the Commission. It was a perfectly reasonable provision for it to include. We interpreted it in a way that we thought gave maximum flexibility to farmers. We knew that it would not be well received but we felt we were meeting the minimum conditions provided for in the regulation.