Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

Quite correctly, we have moved a long way from that. Consider the situation in farming. Unfortunately, farm income can be very cyclical. One can have one or two good years but, unfortunately, that can be affected by weather, even weather in another continent. The dairy farmer, for example, can have a good year but if there are favourable climate conditions in Australia, New Zealand or America which results in a small increase in their overall production, it can skew the worldwide market. Income drops considerably because of the extra product available. By definition, there will be less demand for our products and we depend on trade. The Minister must give a clear message that productive assets will not be included in the means assessment for student grants.

See this speech in context