Mr. Michael Ewing:

Many questions were raised and I tried to track most of them. I will try to answer those that have not been addressed. I live in a farming community in north County Roscommon and I come from a family that has been farming for many generations. Most of the people who live around me have at least two jobs, with some having three or four jobs. The reason is that their farms are not economic in the system that has been imposed on them. They were encouraged to get into debt in the past to intensify beef production, stock cattle and so on. The types of things they are encouraged to do in terms of slatted sheds and slurry spread and so forth did not fit then, do not fit now and will not fit in future because of the intensification of rain incidence in the west and so on.

What do we do about this? Farms west of the Shannon are generally extensive. In terms of farming land, these farms cover approximately half the country, yet farmers in the region receive the least income from the CAP. These farmers should be encouraged to protect our nature value land in terms of biodiversity, climate and protecting soils. We have declining soil quality and quantities in this country and these factors, which are not being tracked, will impact greatly on us in the future. We need to encourage these people to be the carers for the land and this involves financial encouragement.

As many speakers noted, there is a movement away from the land. Senator Mac Lochlainn provided some startling statistics on the movement of young and older people away from the land and farm abandonment. These are serious problems which will worsen if we do not do something about them and look after those who are looking after the land.

Where do we go with this? We need to examine the Common Agricultural Policy as this is one mechanism where we can find the finances to support people who are looking after farms and preserving biodiversity. Why are average farm incomes in Ireland €15,000 when they are €30,000 in Germany? Why are farmers east of the Shannon receiving much larger incomes from farming per acre than farmers west of the Shannon? The reason is the focus in Ireland on intensive farming. In Germany, the focus is on factory farming. Those are the background scenarios, if one likes.

We need the polluter to pay for the pollution he or she creates. The polluter pays principle is enshrined in European law in any case. It means people must pay for pollution they create on their farms or through the use of cars and so on. This needs to be borne in mind when we visualise the issue.

Change is always difficult. Coming from a farming background, I know people are traditional and stuck in their ways. However, the tried and trusted mechanisms they have used throughout their lives will not work in future for a variety of reasons, including climate change.

I ask the Chairman to excuse me for a rambling a little. I am trying to find the right responses to the questions asked.

In terms of protein production, it is inaccurate to state protein cannot be produced in this country by any means other than ruminants of one sort or another. It is perfectly possible to grow field beans and other forms of beans, which are high protein sources, in this country and to do it quite productively. There are other ways of going about it, and these are plant proteins. I know we do not do it in this country, but in intensive agriculture it takes 20 pounds of vegetable protein to produce one pound of beef. Does this make any sense in terms of a starving planet? It does not. I want to make sure I have covered everything that has been asked.