Mr. Joe Condon:

One solution might be to include a proviso reflecting the fact that where the farming custom in an area was established over a period of time, the EU allows for a type of farming known as established local practices. The proviso would state that if this process is in place, there will be no need for planning. In some areas and commonages it is just a management plot that is fenced off and there is no intention that it become a permanent fixture. Something like that could be added to the legislation to allow farmers to see whether they fall into this category on the basis that their farming methods through the years fulfil the established practice criterion. If there is a huge process to go into and inspectors need to come out and so on, farmers will tend not to do that work. Being conservative and cautious people, farmers will say to themselves that perhaps they should not draw those people on them. In that context, simplification seems to be the way forward. We should allow farmers to farm in the way they are accustomed to farming and not penalise them in any way for so doing. People look to see whether a farmer in another part of the country has the freedom to go out in the morning and drive a stake in the ground without having to ask permission. We must take away any such uncertainty from farmers if at all possible. They face enough uncertainty as it is. If we all work together, solutions can be found to these problems.