Mr. Niall McCormack:

We have learned from the dairy sector that when there is a certain amount of profitability in the sector, it encourages young people and new blood into it. We will have to start with existing growers and build confidence in their situation. If we do not do so, we will not get the younger crowd and newbies into it. As Mr. Cullinan, Ms Brennan and I have stated, it is about price and the sourcing of labour. Those are the two main factors at the moment, as well as the retail charter and getting the supermarkets on board. It should not be addressed on a yearly basis. That is one of the problems with the banks as well. The banks do not have confidence in horticulture. They are looking at the accounts and so on of growers. The supermarkets, especially the discounters, work on a year-to-year basis and it is very difficult for growers to plan. In sectors such as the dairy sector, however, there is a little more vision. There is very little vision in the horticulture sector. On the ground, the labour issue is a significant problem. If growers, especially those who are getting on and may be in their 50s, do not know from where they will get staff, they cannot plan.