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

This is my final question. There is no denying that the public and the industry have lost faith in the Department. Every public representative hears it every day. All of the industry has lost faith in the Department. The national targets do not bother me, but that is what is set out under all these agreements. The Department has reached approximately 53% or 54% of the targets in the past four years. Mr. Hayes says the buck stops with him. Is there not a serious problem in the Department that must be rectified, particularly when it has lost the confidence of the sector it is supposed to be working with and of farmers? When one talks to farmers and one mentions planting, they throw their hands up in the air. They say they would be better at anything other than that. Do the officials not have a lot to answer for and is the Department not in serious bother?