The Minister has claimed that retaining the slaughter premium provides an incentive for farmers to produce cattle, not merely retire. However, with 45% of Irish farmers over the age of 55 years, the reality is that many will simply take the European Union income and end almost all production. If this happens, these farm families will have no future and their children will not carry on the tradition of farming. The already alarming numbers leaving the land will snowball. There were 141,527 active farms in June 2000 compared with 170,578 in 1991. Over ten years, there has been a reduction of 29,051.