Mr. Liam Dunne:

Before I do that, there are a couple of points on the fertiliser question that are interesting to note. To the best of my knowledge - I am nearly sure I have this correct – since the EU was set up, no voluntary organisation has ever managed to persuade the EU Commission to start an investigation into any industry. This is the first time it has happened. We are minnows In the tillage sector in Europe so for an organisation such as the IFA to have achieved that is something major in itself. We could really do with the wholehearted support of the Government in what we are doing. That would make a major difference.

Another point is worthy of note. We had a paper from a Russian delegate at a conference. He was going through the money being spent in Brussels on lobbying and he examined all the lobbying. Committee members present will know better than me that people have to declare the money they spend on lobbying and so on. The first on the total list – it was not an agricultural list – was Fertilizers Europe. Tobacco and petroleum lobbyists were in second and third places. Fertilizers Europe members do not sell any product directly to what we call normal consumers – I mean the person in the street - they only sell to farmers. People should ask why on earth that organisation is spending that kind of money. The amount of money it was spending was one and a half times as much as the next on the list, which was the tobacco lobby. If we stop to consider it, it is clear these are massive figures. For a country like Ireland to take on such a powerful unit and get this issue to where it is now is a point worthy of note.

Crop diversification was part of the greening brought in last year. Many environmentalists in Europe were rather concerned that in some parts of Europe, one could be driving for miles and see only one crop. When they first introduced this into the negotiations, they had figures as low as 2 ha and 3 ha of crops. A farmer had to have more than 1 ha, which was ridiculous. Eventually, they brought it in at a higher level. It is relevant to Irish levels of production. Most farmers, once they get over 10 ha, have to grow two crops. If a farmer has over 30 ha, he has to grow three crops. Most farmers in this country with over 30 ha would normally be growing three crops anyway. Our greatest problem is with farmers who are in the middle band and who have to grow two crops. I have received numerous telephone calls from people who are in that band, especially this year and last year. Traditionally, they would have grown spring barley in counties Galway, Donegal, Cork and Kerry. That is what the demand is for locally - their neighbours would buy it off them and the local merchant would trade in it. Many in these areas had to turn around and grow a second crop. If a farmer is in an area of the country that has high levels of winter rainfall, he is not going to sow winter crops because they simply will not survive it. The country tends to have wet winters. We are not like the Russians, who sometimes suffer from frost kill because of the cold. Water is more our problem. As a result, most of them have to grow a second spring crop. The only option they have left is spring oats.

I talked to Pat Ryan from Liffey Mills at the ploughing match. He said he has spring oats coming in at the moment. They are poor quality because of the wet weather and he says he has no market for it. Under these regulations, farmers are being told that they have to grow crops for which there is no local market. There may well be a market somewhere else, but not locally. This is the problem.

We managed to persuade the Commission to put in an alternative measure called equivalence. Under equivalence, if a farmer is in an environmental scheme, such as GLAS, he can elect to grow only one crop but he must put in a percentage of catch crop to make up the difference. Since he is doing one instead of two, he has to put in an extra measure. The EU Commission has insisted on 100% catch crop. Only 22 farmers in Ireland are attempting to do it. Last year was the first year and this year is the second year. All of them are in trouble, because trying to put in catch crops at the moment when the ground either has a crop in it or has straw on it is virtually impossible. We have said to the Commissioner every time we have met him that we want the 100% requirement changed back to an equivalent of the amount of crop that a farmer has altered and taken out of the system as such. That percentage should be sufficient. We would even be prepared to take twice that percentage and we could still live with it, but 100% will not work.

It has another knock-on effect on malt and barley. This relates to the areas of the country that grow good malt and barley. It is not possible to grow it anywhere in the country, although I know small amounts are grown in Galway.

In the area where it is grown farmers traditionally just grew malting barley. Now, many of them find they must grow other crops to cover themselves but they find it difficult to put in the extra cash crop. We are looking for relatively small change. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has been completely behind what we are doing, but the Commission has not been prepared to move and we have brought it as far as the Commissioner. This is what the issue is about.

On the sale of entitlements, the problem is farmers who need to fulfil all of these entitlements must have the land. If the entitlement is more than what the home farm is worth, and remember that 40% of the cereals grown in Ireland are grown on rented land, the farmer must rent extra land. Most tillage farmers do this and there has been quite a strong tradition of this. Given the pressure on farmers' income at present, and the pressure from other farmers wanting to expand dairy herds, people have no option but to travel longer distances to try to fulfil these entitlements. We ask the Government to give us the opportunity to let these people sell some of these entitlements and get out completely. Many of them are badly strapped for cash after five years and they really need this cash injection, which would make a difference. It would allow them to downsize. Effectively what is happening is the industry itself is downsizing because there is not sufficient income in it. We will have to allow it to downsize and at the same time make sure it survives. It can survive, but it needs the total and utter support not only of the Oireachtas, but also the rest of the stakeholders. The co-operatives and merchants have massive role to play in giving this support.

It is not just grain that is being produced as there is also straw. One of the placards that kept getting attention when we protested at the boats last year was the sign that stated there was no straw on the boat. I am reliably informed that in the UK there is a big demand for straw to go to Poland at present. Somebody who returned from Scotland two weeks ago told me that a 4x4 round bale of straw in Scotland was making £34 in the field. Scotland is also way behind in its harvest.

With regard to what to say to farmers who have come to the end of their tether, it is very difficult. If the weather is the major part of the problem in their area they will have to look at grass. Three weeks ago, a contractor in Galway told me he had 1,500 acres of ground ploughed for grass seeds but had not managed to sow any of it. I believe he has done so in the meantime. This much area is going to grass at present. A farmer I spoke to today told me he will fallow half his land for this coming year. If it costs money to grow a crop, in other words when people are still at a loss after they sell it and must use their single farm payment to pay the difference, they are better off not sowing it and just leaving the land idle. Unfortunately, this is where we are at and it is serious.

Deputy Corcoran Kennedy raised several points, but I am afraid I did not make a note on them and I ask her to come back to me with them.