Mr. Jack Nolan:

Deputy Leddin is right, and the Minister is right, that there must be a targeted approach. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine supports the agricultural sustainability support and advisory, ASSA, programme. That delivers targeted advice on farm. It is easy for me to sit here and say to farmers in Cork, Donegal or Wexford what they should do but until one is actually on the farm walking the land, it is impossible to say the measure that is most appropriate. In the next CAP, there is a commitment that we are looking at this kind of approach. For example, there will be learnings taken in from the European innovation partnerships, EIPs, where farmers are part of the solution and they are not being talked at - they are being talked with and allowed to come up with the solutions to the problems.

There is a recognition among farmers that things have to change, and change more rapidly. We are not disagreeing about anything here about the change that is need. It is just the pace, and the pace can only be accelerated with more support, I believe, from the consumer and from industry, to help farmers with the investments that are needed and also around education. We have to give farmers credit for the amount of knowledge transfer and knowledge exchange that they underwent in the previous CAP and through the previous derogation programme, and keep providing that. There is a commitment in the programme for Government that the ASSA programme will be continued. That is supported by all farmers and by industry. It is a collaborative approach between the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. We will achieve a lot of success through such an approach - going onto farms and giving direct advice about what needs to be done.