I read the contribution made by the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Parlon, in the Dáil and I was very surprised that with his strong agriculture credentials he did not use the occasion to appeal to the farming community to support the Nice treaty. The word "farming" was not even mentioned which was disappointing because that segment of the electorate feels concerned about changes taking place in farming. Given the current sheep tagging issue, they may feel inclined to use the vehicle of the referendum to make an extremely strong protest. One of the main beneficiaries of EU membership has been the agricultural community in contrast with the fishing community, which in many cases feels very disappointed that when we entered the Community in 1973 agriculture was looked after and it was not. Perhaps we did not have a sophisticated fishing industry.