Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)

The last part of the Minister of State's speech has summed up the issue. The concern is that there will be major reductions, which will leave existing staff under severe pressure. The question of whether there will be enough resources to accommodate the existing queries of farmers generally will be highlighted.

Some farmers have compared their farming business to people on the minimum wage. Farmers do not have a minimum wage. A statistic being disseminated now is that a farmer would need to be paid €300 for a ewe in order to make the minimum wage. As it stands this week, a farmer would be lucky to get €40 or €50 for a sheep come next autumn. The farmers have not put themselves in such a position. With more bureaucracy, more information will be required. More resources will be needed for dissemination of this information, including more IT resources. We still need human contact. Farmers cannot be left to deal with computers and recorded voice messages. Human interaction between the farmer and the Department is necessary.