Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am conscious of time. I know the Chair is getting tetchy, so I will not take too much time.

I never saw him as agitated as he is today. I have learned my lesson and I will try to get in before Deputy Fitzmaurice in future. I might then have a question or two that he has not had answered. There are a couple of key points I want to make. I have a question for Mr. Keane on the forgotten farmers. As Government Deputies we were delighted to see the Minister address this at the Macra na Feirme conference. The organisation is taking issue with the Minister's six-point criteria. It has had lot of engagement. Will Mr. Keane give us bullet points on what the criteria should be for entry into the scheme?

The IFA mentioned the bridging payment for the crossover for those farmers who do not get into the second tranche and face a potential delay in payments. I attended an IFA-organised briefing with Teagasc in Longford. Universally, the response from farmers was quite enthusiastic. Teagasc more or less said if most farmers did one of the recommendations they could probably get themselves into the second tranche and most of them would probably get up to the €7,000. Has the IFA had further engagement on the bridging payment or any indication that it will happen? I hope we will see an announcement tomorrow on the extension of the deadline. I have told the Department it is seriously understaffed in terms of rolling out this scheme. It needs additional people.

My next question is also for the IFA. We think the committee's proceedings are fascinating and that the general public are logged on and watching online. The reality is they are not. The IFA lives in a unique ecology with itself, the producers and the public who are the consumers. I am not here to defend Bord Bia but at the same time there is a perception among consumers that Bord Bia is the flagship and is an endorsement of all Irish products. I will play devil's advocate. Why is the IFA steadfast against inclusion of the suckler scheme in the Bord Bia programme? Does it not see how this reflects in the wider world particularly among consumers?