Mr. John Keane:

I thank the Vice Chairman and I appreciate those sentiments. I probably would not define him as not being a younger man any more. I would not ring-fence him to that solely. In terms of our activities, it absolutely has been a challenge to Macra na Feirme over the past 19 months. The online element started in March 2020. The shift to online was a novelty for three or four months but with that appetite - no more than with any of us on this committee call - Zoom has had a tiring and fatiguing effect, and that was felt throughout the membership for that period of time. As we started to return to physical activity over the past six or seven months, it has been a slow process for members to come back and engage with the organisation. We have seen those same concerns expressed by some of our partner organisations in terms of members re-engaging with the organisation. Thankfully over the past three to four months we have seen a huge increase in appetite in engaging with club and county activities, which is the bedrock on which we are based.

In terms of our social activities and our competition element, I am happy to say that our public speaking, impromptu speaking, national soccer finals, GAA finals and our other elements have gone on over the past number of months. They were held obviously in a physical context and we look forward to more of those in the springtime. The uncertainty about the new variant and those kinds of concerns have meant that we had to curtail some of our activities in the run-up to Christmas to ensure members are safe over the Christmas period and that Christmas Day, which is an important piece for an awful lot of people, is protected. Our club of the year competition, which is a major competition within the organisation, and the young farmer of the year competition, which members will be aware of as well, are considerations in terms of our models of hybrid and are physical.

From a membership point of view, the past 20 months have been very challenging in terms of the activity levels and the re-engagement piece. There is a body of work for us to do in terms of re-engaging with our members and showing us what the organisational benefits were. From a mental health point of view, and I have seen this through my work in Make the Moove, it has taken a significant toll on the social piece, the isolation piece at club and county level and through the wider demographic of the rural populations. That need from a mental health point of view post pandemic and even right now is huge, and those rural supports tailored for both young people and older farmers and people feeling loneliness due to isolation will become ever more important as we move into next year and beyond. That is something that will need resources and investment at rural and local level.

To finish, on behalf Ms Richardson, Mr. Dillon and Mr. Fitzgerald, and Mr. Denis Duggan who joined us previously on calls this year - I am seven months into the role as Macra na Feirme president and this is my fourth or fifth occasion coming before the Oireachtas joint committee on agriculture - I wish to acknowledge the engagement from committee members, including the Chairman, and their openness and wiliness to speak to young farmers on our issues and our perspective on stuff. It is hugely welcomed and is very beneficial to us as an organisation for the challenge the members of the committee put forward for us to think outside the box and to think differently. It is hugely important from all our perspectives. That engagement is greatly appreciated and we acknowledge the elevation of the young-farmer issues within the committee is hugely important. Bringing those issues to light and into the public arena is something which we are really appreciative of as an organisation and I know our members appreciate this as well. I thank the Vice Chairman and know he will pass those remarks to the Chairman. We look forward to future engagement in 2022 and beyond.