William Aird (Laois, Fine Gael)

I welcome everyone here. The ask, for €100,000, is very small. If given, how would it filter down to a social farming group in a way that would enable it to say it has an extra €10,000 or €20,000 to spend in the coming year? This is very important. The whole concept is brilliant, of course. What else could we say? It is small ask and the results are so rewarding. The initiative will not be for everybody but it certainly will be for many. It does not have to be about looking at a sheep or cow. I will give a little story about a person I know who was not engaging at first with the host farmer and that farmer did not know what to do. His daughter came out and started picking blackberries and explaining to the girl in question what she was going to do with them. The two went inside with what they had picked and made a blackberry tart. The girl brought it home and the parents were so grateful. It was the first time that a present ever came from that child. This is a nice little story and it shows how engagement works. Look what came out of it. A blackberry tart was the result of the engagement on the day.

I would like the funding given to filter down to the likes of Mr. McCrohan. He has now grown the initiative to over 40 participants. He can engage with farmers and can see the money is having a genuine impact. If the money does not filter down, it is a problem. We, as a group, do not have a problem with the initiative. I thank Deputy Danny Healy-Rae for bringing the group up here today so we could all learn more about it. Fair play to him. It is a very small ask. You can see the effects of social farming in the brochure. It speaks volumes. The importance of the small amount of money received has been proven.

The witnesses are right about the Department. It is important that the Department act. I do not want to use the word “ownership” because there are other areas in need of funding. I am a member of the social protection committee also and believe there should be funding coming through on the social protection side also. However, the social farming concept is very good. People will only learn from the witnesses' achievements. Is Duhallow the name of-----