A latent fear exists within the farming community because many of the directives issued by the EU are implemented by our Ministers and civil servants in a punitive manner. Many are unworkable and are driving more and more people off the land. Young people are totally disenchanted with agriculture and older people are unable to cope with the magnitude of red tape. This manifests itself, for example, in the necessity to tag every sheep on a farm and record the information in triplicate in order to satisfy the officials in Agriculture House who insist upon it and who penalise even simple human errors. These penalties are excessive given the simple errors involved and it is often suggested that they are fraudulent. The only alternative for many farmers caught up in this system is to forget about these schemes –supports that are vital to the everyday running of farms.