I will remind farm leaders and Fine Gael what this Minister and the Government have done for farmers in recent times. First, I will outline the Minister's main achievements. He mobilised the resources of the State to fight the foot and mouth disease threat, which could have devastated Irish agriculture and the economy. He put into immediate effect the cattle destruction market support schemes, involving the use of substantial Exchequer resources, to support the beef sector and producer prices during the BSE crisis. These schemes cost in excess of €400 million. He adopted a hands on approach to re-opening markets for agricultural produce, involving the full deployment of political, diplomatic and technical resources.