Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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On the definition of "active farmer", as the Secretary General will know, a complaint made to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht regarding farmers in large parts of the west coast, and even along the south coast and in Waterford and Wicklow, was that they produced too many sheep, which was not sustainable in the long term. When there were coupled payments there was huge growth in the number of female animals on the hills. Now, farmers have been made less active than they used to be and the Department is taking another swipe at them and saying they do not have enough stock any more.

Food Harvest 2020 was a policy produced to develop Irish agriculture. To implement Food Harvest 2020, we must encourage all farmers to produce the maximum amount possible from their farms, taking into account land quality, environmental constraints and so on. If, say, 70% of farmers who are considered to be non-productive were to be eliminated in this respect, the targets under the strategy would not be achieved. There is an idea that there is a small percentage of very highly productive farmers, but many farmers are forced to be non-productive, although they do many other things that contribute to the national and international good, such as maintaining the ecology which people who come here on their holidays can enjoy. Will Mr. Moran accept that a fair definition of where we should be going in this respect is that everybody should produce the largest amount that is possible on the land, taking into account the quality of the land? In other words, we do not want there to be over-utilisation of land, as that would not be sustainable. We also need to take account of factors such as age and health, which will always come into play regardless of where one lives. Would that fit in with the Department's definition of how to maximise output, or does Mr. Morgan believe that one sector should increase output and the remainder should stay as they are?