Mr. Pat Cleary:

This does not just concern malt and barley. Historically, 30 years or 40 years ago, we grew most of our home-based milling wheat for flour. It is not that the climate has changed that much in the past number of years. However, now we do not have a milling wheat marketing strategy. It is easier for the merchants, R & H Hall and people like that, to go and buy 6,000 or 7,000 tonne in a batch from the UK or Scotland. It is not just malt and barley. The Chairman asked about the demise in the arable sector. I live in Monasterevin. In my youth, we grew milling wheat and drew it to Odlum's in Portarlington. It was very simple. We grew malt and barley and drew it into Minch Norton's in Monasterevin. We did not grow any feed barley at that time. The livestock sector was not significant. However, it is not just that. We can grow the best and the highest yields of feed barley and feed wheat for the livestock and dairy sectors, which is important, and we are making a huge contribution. However, we are importing a million tonnes of feed product from the UK at the moment which we could produce ourselves if the policy was right.