Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am. I will let Deputy Pringle in shortly.

This sector is being forced to do it without the Department and sometimes it involves conflict for them with the Government, the big farmers, the big processors and the retailers. The Talamh Beo group set up in Galway recently is a perfect example. It sees what is at stake and what needs to change. A member of the group, Fergal Anderson, stated:

People want good food, a good natural environment, the same things farmers want; they want farmers to make a living and take care of the land. Farmers at the moment have to maximise everything, and be good business people rather than good farmers.

We’ve people involved with different ways of managing – micro dairy, direct marketing beef, rebuilding local markets, rebuilding soil.

The industry has its representation – what we don’t have is someone battling from the other corner. We say – the dominant model of production is too hard on the land, on the environment. The beef market is flooded with dairy calves. What you do doesn’t happen in isolation, it has an impact. Why aren't more feeds grown in Ireland rather than imported? We can develop hemp growing, looking at different investment models, there hasn’t been long term investment in processing industries – where does the wool, the hardwood timber, the hemp get processed?

It is time for a change.

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