Mr. Pat McCormack:

Deputy Michael Collins asked about the dairyman with 300, 500, 700 or 800 cows. There are a number of such farmers but the reality is that the average dairy herd in the country is probably much closer to 80 than it is to 100. There are a lot of full-time - and I say this in earnest - commercial farmers with 50, 60 or 70 dairy cows who lost out substantially in the last round of convergence and who have the potential to lose yet again. Is that right when the beneficiary could be a landowner with an off-farm job earning in excess of €200,000? If one goes to Ornua or Bord Bia and sits around the table, they market our dairy and beef products on the family farm structure and model. If we are to be serious about that model, it has to be protected under all aspects of CAP reform, particularly under convergence. The claim to represent farmers was also mentioned by others but the reality is that there are a lot of efficient small to medium-sized dairy farmers out there who took a hell of a hit the last time around.

If Senator Boyhan was asking the question about ring-feeders, he should have asked it when Mr. Brendan Gleeson and other Department officials were before the committee this morning because it is his team that goes out, patrols farm and decides whether farmers are compliant and have to take a financial hit.