Mr. T.J. Flanagan:

We put our name to a scheme six or seven years ago that was called 555. The idea was that a farmer, in agreement with his co-operative, could effectively defer up to 5% of his milk income in any particular year in a five-year rotating cycle. At the end of the five years, the money would have to be drawn down and tax paid in full across that period. We felt that that would allow farmers to leave a little bit of the money behind and build up some sort of a fund in good years that could then be used in leaner years. Certainly, given the cycles that were coming at the time, we felt five years was a reasonable period. In any case, the money would have to be drawn down and the tax paid on it. Again, it will not solve this problem today, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. If the scheme had been in place for the last number of years, there would have been less dependence on fixed milk price schemes, certainly to the extent that the people who jumped on them did so. It is not too late. Something of this nature - and all the farm organisations have been looking for them - should still be supported in the budget process. It would reduce our dependence on fixed-price schemes.