Professor John McNamara:

I might add briefly to Dr. Meredith's comments. Deputy Kenny asked about substance use. I am involved in a farm mental health project in UCD. It has come up with figures for substance use and alcohol use. It is low, but excessive use is seen in a small minority. Farmers love being farmers and I agree it is the business aspect of farming that tends to lead to the issues.

Moving on to Deputy Aird, I am delighted to hear that the glass is half full. Teagasc puts a lot of resources into supporting farmers on this and drawing down the maximum amount of funds. Recently, we established a specialised unit to deal with schemes. We are in constant dialogue with the Department of agriculture to make schemes more simplified and straightforward. Deputy Cooney made the same point about simplification.

Regarding Deputy Newsome Drennan's point, one in four is an alarming figure. As I understand it, it is a study of 256 people on social media. If you read the study, on page 4 it talks about the representativity of the study. I wanted to make those points.