Mr. Liam Herlihy:

It depends on the county in which one lives. We have a nitrates derogation currently, which is hugely important for the future of dairying in particular. Other farmers do not have to avail of that level of derogation due to lower stocking intensities. I am conscious of that.

There were many other questions. There are two areas which are extremely important for me, as chairman of Teagasc. I am very conscious of the fact that dairy farming is the engine of sustainable and profitable agriculture. That can spread to other areas, whether it is tillage farmers assisting dairy farmers by growing animal feed crops or some of our existing beef farmers supporting dairy farmers by rearing heifers. The focus of Teagasc must be on sustainable farming systems. Not everyone will want to get up in the morning to milk cows, nor should that be the case. Equally, however, farmers can tap into the dairying sector by helping to provide for its sustainable future. That is what is important.

I am not exactly sure about willow farming. However, I am aware that many schemes are driven by grants from Brussels. I will have to kick to touch on that one because I do not want to speak about something I do not know about. In any event, dairying is very important but Teagasc must be concerned about certain considerations. If we speak about the sustainability of the maximum number of farmers, the low-level of profitability of beef farming is an issue of concern. We need to be very conscious of this. As the father of five children, one of whom is at home farming, I note that we must be conscious of the fact that a farmer who stays at home to farm on a full-time basis must have the very same opportunity to earn a viable livelihood as his or her siblings who have gone onto professional careers in other sectors. That is something of which I am very conscious.

Education in farming is of major importance. Teagasc must keep abreast of that. This is why I am so conscious of the need to recruit the brightest and best and to endeavour to retain them. While we cannot retain all of them, we live in a digital era and need young people who are capable of communicating with our younger farmers in particular. Whereas the young adviser is the future of Teagasc, the young farmer is the future of agriculture. Things are changing, including farming practices.

One of the members asked about the type of farmers who will emerge from the apprenticeship schemes we are about to embrace. We need farmers who are high-spec and who embrace technology, whether it be in respect of grass measurement or whatever. Interchanging, in a very important way, with the researchers at Moorepark, County Cork, has fed into the apprenticeship scheme.

Labour is extremely important on farms. I think it was Deputy Cahill who made that point. In terms of one-man units, it is not for me to say what the appropriate number of animals or cows is for a one person. Often, the number is dictated by the level of borrowing relating to the farm or the level of off-farm income and whether a spouse works elsewhere. No two farms are the same. Labour and its availability is hugely important, particularly in an Irish context. I have spent many years as chairman of Glanbia. My wife and I did not have one of our children available to work our farm during that particular time but we were very fortunate to have good staff from Poland. They are non-Irish people and they are still with us today. In the context of non-nationals coming here to work, they are very important. As we are all aware, and this is something that was mentioned to me quite recently, construction is about to take off again, which - as happened in the past - will take people out of agriculture. Equally, it is important that labourers are well paid, well accommodated and well treated within the agriculture sector in order to ensure that we have a continuous supply of workers.