Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Crawford for his comments on the re-opening of the Russian market. We hope that will help to improve prices and grow the market. The Russian market available to our exporters is of substantial importance overall.

Regarding young persons, as Deputy Crawford will be aware, some months ago I launched a Teagasc pig husbandry scheme in Ballyhaise agricultural college. The course was over-subscribed and the participating cohort was very young. I understand that in Clonakilty where a similar course is being held it, too, is very well subscribed to by a young age group.

Regarding the banking sector, Deputy Crawford may be aware that on a number of occasions I have met with pig producers and millers from the northern half of the country, along with their advisers. The group explained to me that over the years millers acted as bankers to individual pig-farmers. Now millers are under pressure, credit-wise, and because pig-farmers are also under pressure there is delay in payment reaching the millers. I got that group of millers and farmers together to formulate a specific proposal. At those two meetings, individual pig producers and millers commented that as a general rule in the past neither group would sit in the same room as the other because they would not have shared the same viewpoint. However they shared the same viewpoint at those meetings. I met a large number of processors, millers and farmers at that meeting. Afterwards I met the Irish Banking Federation and put to it the proposal that had been given to me at the meeting and which we had discussed. Subsequently, my Department wrote to the IBF supporting the proposals that had been put forward by the group. My recollection of the meeting with the IBF is that all the major banks were represented by their chief agri-advisers and they included the two banks mentioned by Deputy Crawford.

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