Mr. Andy Doyle:

It is very hard to maintain. We had one major advantage, which was high yields at a reasonable cost. The high yields are still being achieved, more or less, but the costs just keep on escalating. The price any farmer in Ireland receives is set pretty much by the price at port, and that price is coming from wherever is the cheapest source in the world, which will have much cheaper fertiliser, much cheaper inputs and technologies we cannot use. That gap has been increasing in magnitude over time and it is making us less competitive. Our incomes are being eroded as a consequence.

That is ultimately where it is going. The only defence we have, aside from direct support, which the vast majority of tillage farmers do not want to depend on if it can be avoided, is to recognise the value that Irish grain can bring to the feed systems, and indeed the food systems, which we already have in respect of malting barley, oats, etc.