Mr. Liam Herlihy:

That is definitely so.

Deputy Cahill and others referred to climate change. Glanbia is very involved in the very important bio-transformation project at Lisheen. Glanbia and Enterprise Ireland are involved in that and in the area of science and development.

Many members referred to the staff embargo and future staffing needs and Senator Lombard queried age profiles. That is the reason we need to be conscious of it. The age profile of farmers is something we have always considered. While that is something we cannot change, we can encourage young farmers and put a programme in place to educate them and ensure that they have the appropriate training to avail of the important stamp duty mitigation which is available, as well as the vital capital allowances relating to land transfers. That is hugely important and has been made available and promoted by successive Governments. From a Teagasc point of view, we must ensure that we have the appropriate staffing in order to make sure farmers have the necessary green certification to avail of those benefits.

A query was raised in respect of the number of people who go back to full-time farming. I do not have the figure but it is something to which we can come return. Not everybody must or should want to be a full-time farmer. It will depend on location and farm size. Whether they are full-time or part-time, what is hugely important is that farmers live in rural Ireland. By having people living in rural Ireland, we will ensure we have a sustainable and vibrant rural community. As chairman of Teagasc, I note that this is something of which we are hugely conscious. Wearing a different hat, I note that in Glanbia, it was always said that every €1 invested in a farm generated €4 in the wider economy. Agriculture is hugely important within the farm and outside the farm gate.

Deputy Fitzmaurice mentioned factory feedlots. Whether I like it or not, I am wearing a Teagasc hat today and Teagasc does not get involved in policy issues of that nature. The Deputy made the point about my personal view on CAP. CAP is hugely important to us. I was aware personally in that I got a text on my mobile phone on 16 October to say the CAP payment was available in my bank account. The committee can rest assured that I immediately checked my bank account and it was not there. I checked again at midnight and it was still not there. The important thing is that it arrived, safe and sound, at 9 a.m. the following day. Irrespective of size or scale, CAP is hugely important, including from the perspective of the environmental behaviour of farmers. It is important to ensure that all farmers farm within the code of practice as we ought to do.

On the suckler scheme and whether we should have 1 acre per livestock unit-----