Mr. Pat McCormack:

In response to the Senator, it is very hard to define just one thing coming from today because it is a combination of things as we move forward. Mr. Cullinan alluded to the genuine farmer who is the person working the land. We certainly feel that the person who is working the land, and is doing so in a meaningful fashion, needs to be defined as the genuine farmer. When I started out in farming, twenty-something years ago, there was the armchair farmer who was effectively a milk quota holder. We now see entitlement holders becoming armchair farmers. That is not sustainable for the commercial or active farmer, or the genuine farmer as it is now, who is out there.

We see convergence as being a very harsh method. While it flattens the payment per hectare it by no means levels the playing field. There should be no further convergence without taking into account the overall envelope an individual farmer receives.

On good agriculture culture and environment, on carbon unfortunately we have seen the case of Bord na Móna which is so hesitant to give a written agreement. It is not that long ago since we asked for that in this forum. We would not like to see that burden on farmers who are farming in a commercial and effective manner. We need to be very prudent about how we navigate that. The critical matter is the genuine farmer and the convergence. We need to get those right. The farmers who are trying to make a living and make a meaningful economic return from farming cannot afford to carry the armchair farmers into the future.