Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)

It must be recognised that there are no guaranteed outlets.

There are 9 million acres of relatively good land here. On foot of European Union constraints and restraints of every description, our national herd is declining, there are fewer sheep and cattle and less tillage. As a result, a great deal of land is lying idle. The best land in the entire country has been set aside. In recent months, the Minister decided to provide X amount of money per hectare to encourage people to grow the relevant alternative crops. He is now wondering why farmers decided not to grow more of these crops than has proven to be the case. As Deputy Naughten stated, the Minister gave them a month or two to decide whether to opt to grow these crops. The Minister is here long enough to know that no group in society will make an overnight switch regarding something in respect of which no research was carried out. Years ago the Agricultural Research Institute did research into any proposed actions by farmers and tried them out in practice to ensure they would work at farm level.

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