Michael Comiskey (Fine Gael)
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I thank the members of the two groups for their presentations, which were very interesting. Mr. Kent spoke earlier about the drop in milk prices and so on. We all have great sympathy for people who have lost income and have made a huge investment in the milk sector, but their income is possibly higher than those of the farmers in sheep and beef. I come from a sheep and beef background.

That brings me back to 2014, which was a very difficult year for beef farming. On one occasion I was invited to Downpatrick where I saw more than 2,000 cattle from the west, and because of the stance on nomad cattle, the people there had difficulty getting those cattle slaughtered. Those people were not coming back to the South to buy store cattle, which was a huge loss, and they are missed from the marketplace.

Deputy Ferris mentioned that 150,000 extra cattle will come on stream in the next year or so and we have to be very careful to ensure the price of beef does not drop again.

We have to monitor carefully the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership deal because beef certainly will be the big loser in this regard. Again, GM free growing of grain is a major concern to people, and many people raise this issue with us. I believe either an all-Ireland approach is necessary or we should work with England and Scotland on this issue to ensure our clean, green image, for which we have always been known. That might be the way forward and we should consider that.

We discussed feedlots earlier in our discussion. It has been a major worry for us over the years that when the price of store cattle is low, factories can go out can fill up their sheds and then, when the price is rising a little bit, can, by putting their cattle onto the marketplace, undermine the genuine farmer who is trying to make a living. Something needs to be put in place to address that issue.

The live exports business is very important, but the chart the delegates provided shows the drop in that sector in recent years. We must be careful not to allow it to drop further, which will require ensuring the competition is there. The sheep sector, too, must be supported but, again, we have seen a drop-off in the number of ewes in recent years. A scheme must be put in place to address this, a point we have raised on several occasions. We certainly will support the delegates' call for such a scheme. The same applies in respect of sheep exports, which is something that is particularly relevant in Border areas. We see Northern Ireland customers wanting to buy sheep from places like Wicklow and the Midlands, but there is a difficulty in bringing them from marts onto farms in the North. They have to come off a farm.

In regard to the knowledge transfer programmes, dealing with beef, dairy and sheep, it is crucial that farmers are able to participate in at least two of them. That is vital for farmers, both young and old, who want to get a little more knowledge. The money involved is not huge and I agree that farmers should be able to have two programmes running.

The delegates from Macra na Feirme will know that we work very closely with their organisation in my part of the country, which is Leitrim and Sligo. There was a reasonably good deal done for young farmers under the basic payment scheme. However, as Mr. Finan noted, a lot of young farmers fell through the cracks. There is a category of young farmers, or perhaps old young farmers, who may not have gained as much as they should have gained. Their situation must be addressed. Progress on partnerships, long-term leases and all of that is positive. It is vital that we continue to work to find new ways to ensure younger farmers can get involved in those initiatives. Our farming population is getting much too old and we must continue to see younger farmers entering the sector. We worked very closely with Macra na Feirme on the appointment of 20 new Teagasc advisers to help young farmers who must have their green cert completed by 2016. It is important that nothing is put in the way of that and people are not penalised.

On the availability of low-interest loans from the European Investment Bank, it does not matter whether a farmer is young or old; being able to access money at a low rates must be a good thing. Everything must be explored in that regard to ensure it is possible for everybody to avail of the facility.