Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the representatives and thank them for their presentations. It is a very exciting industry and always has been but was somewhat overshadowed during the past decade by the Celtic tiger when some people thought there were better things on offer but clearly there was not. It is therefore good to see the sustainable indigenous industry in agriculture. Perhaps Mr. Cormac Healy would comment on the live trade which has started again and, presumably, would be of concern. Farmers and the IFA would welcome this as a means of limiting reductions in beef prices. As he may have a different view on the issue, perhaps he would comment.

The Minister has handled the horsemeat saga well. Does Mr. Healy think there is a lingering impact on our green image, albeit that the Food Safety Authority of Ireland was the first to discover what was going on? In regard to the CAP, the bigger farmers have larger entitlements which they would like to protect. Many of the smaller western farmers, particularly suckler farmers, would have lower entitlements but they are hugely important. Perhaps he would comment on that in terms of the inevitable reduction in entitlements for beef finishers. Does he see that impacting on their expansion?

I wish to ask Mr. Michael Barry about the dairy sector which will have huge potential following the abolition of quota in 2015. I watched on Sky News recently a story from China on the lack of availability of infant formula. A couple of entrepreneur students in the United Kingdom heard it and started to buy formula in the local shops and export it, as a way of doing business. What work has been done by the Irish Dairy Industries Association in terms of tapping into that market? Given that the quota system will be abolished by 2015, will the extra processing facilities, one of which is planned for Waterford, be in place by that time?

Mr. Shane Dempsey mentioned the sector's specific development fund. Will he please expand on that? Who will lead it? Will it be the State, the banks or is European Union funding available?