Mr. Tim Cullinan:

To go back to Senator Daly's question, the strategic plan will be critical and essential. We have been engaging with the Department on an ongoing basis. The Department cannot make a decision on the strategic plans until negotiations are concluded in Brussels. This will frame the direction of travel. What is absolutely essential in all of this is that we need a financial impact assessment on all of this. A fundamental change is taking place. There will be a massive cost to farmers. We also have to be very careful with the schemes we are devising with regard to costs incurred and income forgone. Planners will be coming in to devise the eco-schemes.

I will also answer Deputy Browne's question on the loss of funds.

We must ensure that those funds are ring-fenced and stay in the system in Pillar 1. If we are advising on environmental schemes, it is essential that there is not a loss or another cost involved for farmers because of more leakage. We do not need the two-year learning here. Farmers have learned quite a lot over the years. Basically, funding from Pillar 1 us being shoved into Pillar 2, which not a good idea, full stop, from my perspective. The learning is that we are going in the wrong direction of travel with this.