Mr. Brian Rushe:

I will be brief. I will bring in Ms O'Sullivan towards the end of my contribution. The first part of the question was about the level of engagement and we feel it has been limited. There are decisions, targets and policy moves being made that will have a fundamental impact on farming for my generation and the generation that comes after us. That is not to say we are not engaged in change or we do not believe in change. However, any plan that is going to affect livelihoods the way this might needs to have full and proper engagement. The IFA, its president, Mr. Tim Cullinan, and I have consistently said we want to engage on this issue. We want to sit around the table and be a part of the process. We are focused on solutions, as I have said before. However, stakeholder engagement needs to be better, whether through a forum or whatever else. It is going to be important to continue that conversation as we go forward.

We have not been afraid to say that the targets are going to be challenging for our sector. There is a lot of common ground between the different groups and as was mentioned earlier, any targets have to be framed under the three pillars of sustainability - economic, environmental and social. If one of those is left out-----