Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

The future for young farmers will be on this side of the House because the negativity expressed by the Opposition in farming circles has been such that it would depress anybody.

Given the priority afforded to the milk industry in this country from a production and manufacturing perspective, I decided, against the background of the world trade talks and the fact Chile is now our competitor, that we needed a system whereby we could be competitive at an international level. On that basis, I decided we needed to change the quota scheme — contrary to opinion, the Minister is occasionally entitled to make a policy decision, as is the Government. I did not determine the price and will not do so. What is written in the newspapers is not necessarily a reflection of the truth.

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