Mr. Tim Cullinan:

I thank Senator Daly for his questions. To follow on from what the previous speakers have said, this is obviously a very specialised area within sheep production, which in itself is a very low-income sector and very challenging. We have to look at land types in different areas of the country. The market is obviously very important for this sector as well. There is a lot more work to be done on the ground in those areas before we would be able to recommend that farmers get involved in the sector. That said, as I said earlier, we should always be looking forward and if there is potential in this sector, then supports should be developed around that.

The Senator made a very valid point about ACRES, which was included in the programme for Government. It was agreed at that time there would be a €1.5 billion environmental scheme which was not about supporting sheep production but about supporting environmental measures. Obviously, there is a cost for every farmer to get involved in that scheme in terms of the measures that he or she has to implement.

They are two separate things. As Mr. Comiskey already pointed out, that is about environmental measures. We are about supporting a sector that requires extra funding to ensure it can continue into the future. The Senator raised a question around organic markets. Given where we are at the moment with food inflation running at 16.5%, all you have to do is look across to Germany, where the organic market has collapsed. We need to be very careful about what we advocate at the moment because there are a lot of challenges. If we push more organic sheepmeat into the current market, it is going to create more difficulties. I agree with the remarks around the Brexit adjustment reserve, BAR. We speak about market diversification and the concerns around Brexit, which are becoming more real, as the Senator highlighted. We have sent multiple submissions to our Government around the Brexit adjustment reserve and the sheep sector as well. Time is running out. The BAR funding must be spent by the end of 2023. Our Government needs to make a decision about what it is going to do in that area. The last thing we want is this funding going back to the EU. That would be an absolute disaster. The Senator mentioned the Windsor Framework, the challenges around it and the concerns with more imports coming in. Our understanding is that sheepmeat coming to the Republic of Ireland is coming from Northern Ireland, but he is right, there will be more challenges with red lanes and green lanes. We would all welcome a solution around the protocol and if the Windsor Framework is going to replace the protocol, overall, for trading between us and Northern Ireland, it is an important dimension of trade for our sector. I believe Mr. Bourke wishes to make a few comments.