Mr. Matt Foley:

I will respond to the question on the contracts. Many producers would have contracts which are not strictly contracts. I have what I would call arrangements on paper which are not legal agreements. Under the new laws and the rules of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, if a producer is dealing with a business valued at €50 million or more, that business must issue the producer with a contract. I would imagine that, going forward, most growers will either have a contract with a supermarket, if they are dealing directly, or with a facilitator. That will be the law. The IFA is aware that there are contracts floating around now but a legal agreement will be a requirement in almost every case in the future.

Regarding the legislation, the IFA looked for an ombudsman, having examined the situation in England. I heard today through Twitter that four supermarkets are in trouble in the UK on foot of investigations. The IFA has made representations to have some other parts of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission legislation changed. Those representations are with the Minister at the moment but I do not think he has fully signed off on them yet. We certainly feel that it is up to the legislators to put the necessary laws in place and to ensure those laws are implemented. The strength of the new commission will be judged on what it does, how and what it investigates and how much it investigates. We also feel that adequate resources should be made available to the commission to enable it to do its job properly.

Members will be aware that the age profile of growers is one of the most worrying issues. Indeed, the age profile of this current IFA committee is far lower than any other that I have been on for quite a while. There are very few young people entering the business and one must ask why that is the case. Are they afraid of hard work or what is the issue? The reality is that they do not see themselves making a good enough living out of it. Unless they can get a proper economic return, they will not go into the business. My experience is that once a producer stops growing, he or she never goes back to it. If we lose that critical mass of growers, we will not be able to rebuild the sector.

Mr. Doyle will deal with the questions on potatoes.