Mr. Pat McCormack:

I have some observations from the questions. There was a question about the superlevy bill and the freezing of the repayment. It would be far more worthwhile for this country if the butt of that adjustment was followed up. With hindsight, we reckon this would reduce the super levy bill on a permanent basis by 35% to 40%.

This matter relates to a comment that was made about the gradual abolition of quotas. It was always ironic and problematic that quotas were being phased out and we were getting 1% per annum for a four-year period but no national increase in the final year. The phasing out should have been gradual, for example, 1% the first year, 2% the next year, 3% the next year and so on. We would have avoided the glut at the roundabout that was 31 March 2015.

Senator O'Neill suggested that, had the intervention been increased to 28 cent per litre, it would have made co-ops lazy. Co-ops are allegedly driven by dairy farmers. We want to maximise our return, given the fact that the cost of production has increased. As the president stated, it may hold people in the game.

I will highlight Mr. Pat Dillon's comments in today's newspaper. Given the climate conditions, 2009 was the most horrendous year for dairy production since I started milking cows 20 years ago. If this year was not the most ideal, then it was certainly the second best. We cannot underestimate that. I would be careful about those figures on the effect of weather conditions. We do not need the weather of 2009 in 2016.