Mr. Gerry Lynskey:

We believe the reason the Department had this change of mind ten years ago and, in effect, encouraged the ICBF and Teagasc to go down this road is that it genuinely believed, as Mr. Lynch stated, that at ICETA meetings there was a constant complaint, "Why are the records of only 20,000 farmers computerised?" As Deputy Ó Cuív stated, there are 100,000 farmers in the country. What about the rest? There is a limit to the uptake because of the age structure of farmers and the small scale of many farms, and farmers generally prefer not to sit in front of a computer. A farmer must have a compelling reason to sit in front of one. His or her farm must be of a scale and he or she must be of a mentality to use a computer. What we have proved is that the size of the market is not 100,000; rather, it is somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000. That is why we say there was no market failure, although it seems the Department thought there was. This is one of the justifications it is giving to the European Union, but events have proved us right in that regard.