Mr. Conor Mulvihill:

In terms of Deputy Martin Kenny's question on the increase of numbers in the dairy herd versus the increase in the numbers of the suckler herd, I think there was a lot of latent capacity on dairy farms as a result of quotas. At the start of quotas in 1983, our dairy industry was the same size as its counterpart in New Zealand. We were held back for two generations by quotas. We have been making great leaps forwards. In the past three years, we have gone from 5.5 billion litres processed in 2015 to 7.5 billion litres this year. Those extra litres are not commodity litres, they are bringing profits back to farms.

They have been borne out in terms of the work Teagasc has done on actual farm incomes. The farmer with an average dairy herd is earning about €70,000 a year versus what my father earns from an organic beef herd, about €19,000 or €20,000. That is the CAP payment plus a bit of the organic payment. It is a no-brainer. If we want wealth for farming communities in every parish in Ireland, we have a massive advantage here. We are the accredited lowest carbon emitter of dairy per kilogram produced. Regardless of organic or non-organic, that is EU accredited. It is something to be massively proud of, so we have to build on that and use some of Mr. McHugh's ideas across all farms. I refer to the successes on farms and the work of Ms Westbrook and others. We have to drive that on and use some of the lessons Mr. McHugh has highlighted in order to get all farmers - even those who want to go the conventional route - up and running.

In respect of Brexit, what is happening is depressing. We are supposed to be discussing climate change but I am of the view that the Irish dairy industry will ride Brexit out. This year, we are projecting that over 50% of Irish dairy will go beyond the EU and the UK. It will cause us damage but I think we have such a good competitive advantage, because of our grass-based system, we are probably going to ride it out.

Senator Paul Daly asked about the potential for organic dairy. In the industry, we think there is a fabulous organic opportunity for farmers like Mr. McHugh and other farmers around Ireland. One of our members does an organic product and they cannot get the organic skim and organic base. They are gone to Denmark to get it and they are manufacturing it in Ireland and exporting it.