Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

I agree with the Deputy on many issues. As a farmer, I experienced the 1970s and 1980s when Ireland entered mass production. I am trying to get the media to latch on to what we are in a position to achieve by 2015 or 2020. The door is open for Ireland to mass produce safe food. As the Deputy correctly noted, we could lose everything if we do not avail of research opportunities. I toured the Teagasc research centre in Grange, County Meath, yesterday where I was delighted to see so much effort being invested in new research and technology. We were shown an example of an animal which was able, for genetic reasons, to achieve the same weight gain as an identical animal with 20% less feed. Research is being done in Grange and elsewhere and our agricultural colleges are attracting large numbers of students. The Dáil needs to hold a serious debate on the scale of production that could be achieve here as well as the potential for job creation in the agricultural sector, whether in farming, research, dairy and beef equipment, sales, science parks and so forth. The process has started already. When I return home at weekends I often wonder what world I am in because rural life has changed so much. As spray dealers and the owners of hardware stores will tell one, farmers are the only people who are in a position to pay their way at present.

I enjoyed spending an evening in Deputy Colreavy's constituency recently. I saw how young people entering horticulture are receiving an education through a programme that is affiliated to the Sligo Institute of Technology. Some of those leaving our colleges do not know how to hold a shovel and would break its handle rather than use it. It is great, therefore, that the facility in County Leitrim is attached to the institute of technology.

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