Mr. Niall McCormack:

My daughter and I farm approximately 15 acres of protected strawberries. We sell a lot to the west and the midlands. We have had a challenging year this year. To put what Mr. Cullinan said into context, yields this year were back by 10% to 15% in the strawberry sector. Of course, the costs have not decreased and we are now looking at a minimum wage of €12.70 per hour. We understand that, with the cost of living and everything, that minimum wage increase is needed, but the costs of labour for both the mushroom and strawberry sectors are approximately 50%. Therefore, this will have a very big effect on those two sectors. As Mr. Cullinan alluded to, the mushroom sector has gone through torrid times and the growers that have managed to stay in the business have done very well to hold on. The strawberry sector has invested a lot of money in a ready-to-eat product that is very sought after by the supermarkets. This year, our labour increased. Even though we are growing the strawberries in protected structures, there was higher humidity and various other problems because of the wet season. We therefore genuinely cannot understand this. I am not just speaking for myself; I speak to other growers on the ground. The strawberry sector was kept out of the first horticulture exceptional payment scheme and we feel that there has been no joined-up thinking here.