Mr. Derry Dillon:

I will cover Senator Paul Daly's comments. On young farmers returning to unviable farms in certain areas of the country, when we first set up our land mobility services we thought we would not have enough opportunities for people and that there would not be enough farmers willing to engage in collaborative arrangements. We have found that we have far more opportunities than we have young people willing to take them up. The key is that the young people are not willing to travel or to move outside of their own parish or area to take up the opportunity. The earlier we can get young people to engage with the service, the better. That holding at home will always be available to them. They can come back whenever they are ready. They will have developed a career in farming and will have developed the skills. That block of land is always valuable, whether it is for contract rearing of heifers or whatever. It is an asset that will always be there for them. It is a matter of getting them to travel at a younger age and to move outside their own localities. In many cases, they would have to do it in any event if they moved outside the sector. It is about encouraging them.

While investment in education for young people can be a difficulty for families at a particular time, especially with regard to labour when there is reliance on young people, it will return manyfold over the lifetime of that young farmer. We encourage all young farmers and are strong advocates at European and Irish level for the value of young, trained farmers. Agriculture is a profession and with all the directives, compliance issues and such now, it is important that young people engage in agricultural education. As Mr. James Healy says, the flexibility around it and other options need to be looked at. There is a study that people who have agricultural education are 12.5% more productive and economically viable than people who do not engage in agricultural education. It is about marrying both of them and always encouraging young people to engage in that education because it will pay a long-term dividend.