Mr. Brendan Gleeson:

There was a lot in that. We had a two-hour discussion on forestry a couple of weeks ago, and we had a bit of a chat about this stuff as well. We have a range of quite imaginative schemes that should be of interest to farmers, including the 1 ha scheme, the riparian zones scheme and the agroforestry scheme. Even the more intensive forestry, for those farmers who have a very low stocking density, is compatible with their farm enterprises. We have a job to do in trying to promote forestry. If people have other ideas, we would not be closed to them but we have a job to do. We have a system in place which has very generous incentives for people. The incentives are extraordinarily generous. The programme is in its infancy and it has legacy issues. It is understandable that farmers would be reluctant in the early stages. What is important is that the people who apply now have a good experience. We made a special effort when there were applications over the past three or four months to phone applicants when they applied, tell them where their application was and let them know when they would get their licences, all things going correctly. We have to try to mind the people who are in the programme. I am not sure we will be as convincing for people as other farmers who have a better experience but that is going to take a little bit of time.

On fishing and decommissioning, the first point to make is that there was a Brexit negotiation and part of the result of that negotiation was that fishermen in Ireland lost quota in the context of an overall package. That was not a deal done by Ireland, by the way. It was a negotiation between the EU and the UK. Then we were faced with people chasing smaller numbers of fish. We had a seafood task force that engaged in consultation with the entire industry. The decommissioning scheme was one of the features that emerged from that consensus approach. That is the way it happened. These things are unpalatable but the choice was between a larger number of vessels chasing a smaller quota and everybody going broke or providing an incentive for some people to leave the industry in order that a smaller number of vessels are chasing quota and have an opportunity to make a decent living. That makes sense. I am not expecting the Deputy to agree with me but that was the rationale for it. We did not come up with it. We engaged with the fishing sector and agreed a strategy that included decommissioning. That is the reason for it.