Mr. Darragh Walshe:

Deputy Canney raised a good point about broadband and not being in too much of a rush to get everything digitised. We are quite conscious of that because many of our affiliates run their co-ops from their kitchen tables. My only contact with one not too far from the Deputy's home is the landline and we manage with that. As to whether we can help them or should be the first place to go, we provide a business plan in our first interaction for the prospective co-op to fill out. From that 15-minute exercise they will know pretty quickly whether we are the right organisation for them or whether the co-operative is right for them.

We cannot comment on the specifics of the mart query but the marts have shown themselves to be pretty agile and good at raising those funds.

We are on hand and happy to help in whatever way we can if they are ICOS affiliates or co-operative marts.

Deputy Martin Kenny asked about meat processing and why co-operatives do not have a major presence there any more. It is a long story and, at the minute, there are a couple of barriers to that second round occurring, since necessary hygiene regulations, which are quite difficult to adhere to for a small, start-up level site, would have to come in on quite a large scale. To be profitable in general, meat processing has to happen on a large scale. That is a barrier to it happening now. Recent headlines and economic and weather conditions have made it all the more pertinent. There is also new EU support of producer groups, which may accelerate things.

Our chairman, Mr. James O'Donnell, will answer the question on education.