Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is a valuable debate because there are contradictions in probably what we all say. Mr. Keane quite rightly made the case that farming should not be restricted to the sons and daughters of existing farmers if it is to have a future. Every sector needs new people coming in. He spoke quite rightly about the fact that there are three and four generations being supported by individual farms. I also represent farmers where the farm is not supporting a single generation and that needs to be noted.

Then there is the issue referenced by Mr. Keane very early on in his opening statement. The phrase he used was that farmers were not subject to fluctuations that occur in the international commodities market. I wish that was the case. This is one of the big issues we are going to have to deal with. Even though we produce more food than we need, because of our current model and the fact we are restricted in the type of product we are producing, or the lack of diversity within our overall system, we are importing lots of feed which could be produced in Ireland. It would require some farmers who are producing one thing at the minute to move and shift. I note that when Mr. Keane spoke about diversification, and he referenced quite a number of potentials areas of diversification which I support in every case, there were very few which related to other types of food production. I refer to the list of areas he mentioned such as on-farm energy reduction, anaerobic digestion, agritourism, energy crops, and organic farming. Everyone remembers the mixed farming model of the Irish farm where there were some crops, a few cattle, possibly a few sheep, chickens in the back and all the rest. It is a fairy tale and we are not going back to that. Is Macra na Feirme of the view that there needs to be more of a mixed element on individual farms, if for no other reason than to protect farmers from the fluctuations that can occur in one particular market or another? I will leave that as my final question.