Dr. Tom Kelly:

A lot of emphasis has been placed on having structures in place, particularly regarding farm partnerships. Those partnerships could be within farm families or with farmers who want to step down their farming activity or who may need additional labour because of expansion, etc. That issue is being dealt with. We have resource specialists in place and Macra na Feirme is very involved through the land mobility service. This is a good example of where there is much collaboration between different organisations to ensure support systems are in place. There are ways of doing that and they start with the education level of people.

Even outside of those effects, we are working with farm relief services, FRS, and have been for some years, to provide short course training in milking skills, calf rearing etc. If a farmer wants to get somebody to help, he or she needs to trust that the helper knows what he or she is doing. The farmer does not want to have to spend all his or her time showing that person what to do or training him or her. This is a big step up, therefore. It has been difficult enough to convince people to release somebody during the first two weeks on the job, in January or whenever. I refer to that person going down to Kildalton or Clonakilty and spending two days a week for two weeks doing that kind of work there and then returning in a month's time and doing it again. That is, however, really effective in respect of training programmes for people. People on those farm courses will have great confidence when they return and farmers are telling us as well that those people come back very assured of what they are doing. The farmers themselves are even learning a few things or at least asking questions about how things are done.