Dr. Tom Kelly:

Regarding the Senator's question on courses, all students who participate in our level 5 and level 6 programmes undergo significant training on the Internet. I can provide an example of the training manual used. The manual is also rolled out to adult farmers.

We use the same material. The options on the websites and in online technology in which people are interested may be quite different from what the younger audience want. People want to be able to use the online services that are available in the Department to register calves, get compliance certificates for the movement of animals and engage with online banking. We have set up a template in a booklet which is now on its third publication. The initial version was in the early 2000s as the Internet started to be rolled out, but it is becoming quite widely used. We see a demand from farmers who are participating in discussion groups and participating in the DEP and BTAP who want to use the suckler cow welfare scheme as well. They want to access online services and have less paperwork.