Mr. John Keane:

On the board, we understand there were also questions to the Minister at this committee regarding the make-up of the board. Our understanding from his interpretation is it must go through the public procurement process or public appointments process. We have reservations about how we ensure two primary producers, as a representative sample of primary producers, will be on the board if they are to go through the public appointments procedure. The chair of the board should have the necessary knowledge and skill set relating to food production in Ireland so that he or she has an overview of what happens on the ground. I am aware he or she can read into the brief and I am sure whoever is appointed will be of a suitable standard but ensuring he or she has a background appreciation for what is happening in the food supply chain will be critical.

I refer also to some contributions at the committee a number of weeks ago on representation from some other sectors, such as the retail sector. It begs the question of somebody speeding down the M50 at 180 mph and going into a Road Safety Authority board meeting to determine what the sanction should be on a motorist, so I question whether the relevance of that is something that, through the public procurement process, which I am not familiar with it, could pertain within it. The primary producers' representation of two is crucially important. On the figure of six, we request that be enlarged as a representative sample of the primary producer sector as well. A quorum of three is 50%. We would like the quorum to be half plus one in terms of voting powers and being a representative sample of the board.

The Deputy asked what can be added and what can be changed. We have long called for the six grey UTPs to be included as black UTPs. On the six UTPs relating to contract negotiations and so forth, we can look at the primary producers who may find themselves in the position to negotiate those contracts. We have experience in the spring just gone by of smaller horticultural or beef producers who had limited bargaining power when it comes to securing a contract, so why would we not be using all the powers we have at our disposal to ensure the playing field they are negotiating contracts on is balanced out as much as appropriate?

On what is missing, we mentioned in our opening statement and submission the issue of below-cost selling. There is a larger question around the viability of the farm sector as well, moving into the future, and the provision of opportunity for young farmers. Should we allow the sale of produce in the domestic market at below the cost of production that would meet the viability definition of farm incomes based on the national farm survey? How that pertains is the basic viability of a farm at minimum wage is €19,616 per annum plus a 5% return on capital investment on machinery and livestock. That is the definition Teagasc has put forward as "farm viability". I am not sure whether we would be happy with minimum wage but it is definitely a start.