Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I welcome the IFA and Teagasc, and thank Ms Doyle particularly. I read the IFA's submission in detail although Ms Doyle did not have an opportunity to go through it in full. I congratulate Teagasc on the Sowing the Seeds of Support document. It is fantastic. There is clearly an overlap between the submissions of the two groups. We talk about farmers under stress. We did not need the OECD report to confirm what we already know. Those who are related to farmers and others in the agricultural world know what the issues are. We know there is an issue of uncertainty and isolation. There are a lot of complexities. Many farmers through no fault of their own live on their own. There is the burden of inheritance, the responsibility of keeping on the family tradition, not letting the place go to rack and ruin or not letting the place go out of the family, that famous expression. With that comes pressure. I spoke to a man recently who I thought was very lucky to have inherited 100 acres in Wicklow. He said that he was not and that all the rest of his siblings are gone, they have met partners, married and moved on. They have no responsibility. He felt he was left holding the can. He had an elderly mother who is now dead and he is alone, isolated and vulnerable. He feels that he cannot interact and that he really does not have social skills. What does that tell us? That is common. I have family members who are similar. There is no shame in all of that, because the one thing he could do was articulate it, and that is progress.

There is no question inheritance and succession is a big issue. Fears around TB and TB itself are an issue. Taxation and the lack of tax compliance through not knowing or fear of raising their heads above the parapet with Revenue are issues of concern. There are the late payments for ACRES and the Department that reneged on commitments to farmers who had budgeted and expected the money to be paid in good stead. There are the greenways and cutting through farmers' lands. There are the issues around compulsory purchase. I could go on and on. On ACRES advance payments, a farmer told me he had received the advance payments only to have over 50% of them clawed back. Would that not give you nightmares, particularly if you had spent it? You are in real trouble then. We need good mental health for our farmers and for everybody. It impacts on our judgment and how we live and do our business. Just as we want for everybody else, we want our farmers to have the potential to be themselves, to be authentic, happy and content and to do the work they love on the land.

The IFA and Teagasc to a lesser extent receive Government funding but I do not know how much they receive. I do not know how it is applied. The witnesses might share with me what the funding is, how it is distributed and whether they need more.