Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

This Government worked very closely with the pig industry to deal with a serious problem that merited significant funding by the taxpayer to ensure the pig industry was retained in the aftermath of the serious health and safety problem last year. The pig industry continues to be very competitive. On trade missions as far away as Japan last year I met pig industry representatives seeking to sell their wares and doing so successfully. If the Deputy wishes to have a debate, we should do so if the Whips can arrange it. In respect of payment systems, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has been very adept and has been deemed to be one of the most efficient in terms of the timeliness of the single farm payment, which is so important to farm household income.

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