Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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I am not surprised at what has happened because the committee, under the Chairman, carried out a detailed analysis of the issue of market volatility in the dairy industry. The Chairman anticipated it well. We heard from the Irish Dairy Board, the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society, ICOS, Teagasc and other interested parties. I remember saying at the time that the Food Harvest 2020 proposal to increase milk production by 50% was ambitious and that one had to hasten slowly. I was warning people who had no knowledge of the dairy industry to be wary of getting stuck into it. That warning was prescient. We understand what it is like for efficient farmers. What must it be like now for those who are inexperienced?

The average price of milk last year was 38 cent per litre because of various world factors. In New Zealand there was a drought in 2012 that led to a large price increase. In 2013 there was a drought in America, with a cold snap in the European Union. It is a function of the market. Demand rises because of various events which are mainly weather-related. The Fonterra Co-operative Group in New Zealand had warned about price volatility and I was not surprised at the turn of events in the price of milk. It is a global issue. Production expanded because of various events which, as I said, were mostly weather-related. Then the market and consumer preferences changed. There was a downturn in the Chinese economy, which resulted in a decline in demand in China for milk. It is important, therefore, that the marketing bodies and processors continue to sell Irish milk in the way they did before. I recall when the committee was dealing with the issue of milk prices that we had the banks in. They are offering all sorts of financial product. I am always concerned about people who come offering incentives, which is grand on a fine day. However, it is on the cold day when one has no shelter, that one needs help.

Questions were being asked about how we should pay the superlevy fine which was €100 million but which was reduced to €60 million, thanks to the appeals system. The banks made all sorts of suggestion such as having prompt pay systems.

They were going to do the devil and all. Bank of Ireland had set aside a fund of €1 billion to assist in meeting the 2020 targets and wondered why nobody was using the AgriFlex loan facility. Farmers in Ireland have a very low level of debt in comparison to their counterparts in other European countries. The banks had various suites of financial options for farmers but the only point they put forward with which I agreed was that dairy farmers should take a "better-before-bigger" approach when considering expansion. I think that was a key point. I do not know which of the banks said that.