Mr. Michael Moroney:

I thank Deputy Fitzmaurice. Our one message is we need a register of contractors. We need the sector organised and structured in order that we can develop it, as Mr. Hughes said, so that we can put together programmes to allow employees and people to develop the sector.

At present, we are the hidden asset of Irish agriculture. Nobody wants to talk to us. Nobody wants to consider the role of the contractor. They talk about farming and most people who are even on the fringes of the sector do not consider the role of the contractor at all. It is as if we are invisible in the room. We are not. We are doing the work. Agriculture cannot and will not survive without the role of farm and forestry contractors.