Mr. Pat Cleary:

I will ask Mr. Carter to reply to Senator Mulherin's question. I will respond to Senator Lombard and Deputy Corcoran Kennedy.

In response to Senator Lombard, the reason we are still in business is that over the past 20 years we have become more efficient. We are producing more tonnes per acre, and we are using better agronomy and better crop husbandry in conjunction with the new varieties available. We are hearing this propaganda about the dairy sector and that there is no future. There is an adage that people should not put all their eggs in one basket. People should remember that not so long ago we saw the risk of something like BSE or foot and mouth disease wiping out a sector and we need to have some form of resilience there.

On the CAP and the benefits of the tillage sector, one of the other issues will be climate change. The one sector that mitigates and has a positive story to tell is the arable sector. Members should consider what we are doing in the context of greening at the moment - ecological focus areas, cover crop and minimal cultivation are all contributing to addressing climate change. Ironically the greening requirements for the tillage sector are much more rigorous than for other sectors. We do not mind; we will comply as long as we are incentivised.

Why is the tillage sector in decline? For 30 years not one cent was put in. People have talked about the CAP but TAMS is the first scheme in 30 years to give any funding towards the tillage sector. This is because nobody asked for it. We were not being properly represented. That is why we are here. We need to stand up for the sector. Some people argue that the tillage people have big single farm payments. The only reason they have big single farm payments is because of economies of scale and they have to take bigger acreages of land every year. When one drills down into that, there are probably four, five or six families being paid for out of that because 80% of tillage farmers lease land - 40% of all the land we farm is leased. There are very lucrative incentives for farmers to lease at the moment - the armchair farmers, who take no risk while we do all the work. That has a positive effect.

The need for the soya bean was mentioned. What is wrong with using Irish beans? Have members seen the difference between a soya bean and Irish beans? When one looks at them, they are both beans. One is GM and the other is not. On is Irish and the other is imported. The other difference is that it is possible to get the Irish product for considerably less. The protein incentive has made a huge difference. Why not use Irish proteins in our crops?

Senator Paul Daly mentioned the weather and farmers harvesting crops at this time of the year. Why do farmers not grow more winter crops? Most of the good quality grain this year was produced from winter barley which was harvested in July. There is not enough promotion to make people aware of that. We were in our field on the day of the Leinster final and we were cutting at a moisture level of 15%. Farmers would love to be cutting at 15% today. There is another way. The straw we produced at that time was a premium product. In the past five years prices have been down, but in the past five years winter barley yields on Irish farms has been on a par with or better than those of any farmers in Europe. We have the climate if we use the right crops.