Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

This would at least allow those contemplating retirement in six or 12 months' time to pause and restructure their plans. However, those who completed the paperwork and whose expectations of income streams are based on retirement and installation aid grant applications are severely disadvantaged and we must put some structures in place to assist them. I recognise the Minister's comments concerning the success of the farm waste management scheme and the significant associated investment. I recognise we are dealing with taxpayers' money, but will the Minister reflect on the 31 December closing date, not only on behalf of farmers with work remaining but on behalf of builders and agricultural suppliers whose income stream in the past 12 months has been very dependent on this work? Notwithstanding that the taxpayer will foot the bill in its entirety for the scheme, much of the money will flow back into the Government coffers by way of VAT and income tax and so on. Some people are genuinely unable to complete the works and obtain the grant by 31 December because of difficulties with planning and suppliers. It could be a win-win situation for the Government, the agricultural community and those in the construction industry if an extension to the deadline were allowed.

I refer to the Minister's ongoing work on the CAP health check. I note with interest his comments on the milk quota regime. We all recognise a decision appears to have been taken that the use of milk quotas as a policy mechanism will disappear in the coming years and this is, presumably, irreversible. I welcome the decision because since 1983, we have been very much aware that while the milk quota regime provided a degree of regulation and certainty to farmers, there was also a capacity among the majority of farmers to increase the quota substantially if the opportunity arose. The opportunity now seems set to arise.

However, notwithstanding my general support for the concept of quota increases, I was impressed and taken aback to a degree by the contribution last week at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food, at which Senator Carty was also present, of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association, ICMSA. It pointed out some of the very profound short-term pitfalls of a rush to quota removal. There has been a significant drop in the price of milk in the past 12 months. If this drop in price continues, it will make the business of a significant number of dairy farmers impossible. We must balance the need for allowing expansion with the need for a degree of certainty and price support in its traditional sense. The Minister appears to have made a degree of progress on the butter market front, which is welcome. However, before we rush headlong into opening the quota floodgates, we need a degree of certainty.

I posed the question at that committee meeting last week and, because of a simultaneous debate in this House on an agricultural matter, I was not in a position to wait for the answer. Once the quota regime is removed, does the Department, the co-operatives or whoever is responsible have a plan to provide for licensing of milk producers? Once the quota regime disappears, can a given tillage farmer, for example, become a dairy farmer if he or she has the wherewithal and the investment potential? Is there a departmental view that there should be licensing of milk producers which may in itself produce a degree of control? Will the Minister respond to these questions?

I accept the remarks of the Minister on the matter of modulation. This is a new and fancy word which, when inserted in a debate on rural development, is seen in a positive light. However, as currently proposed under the CAP health check, modulation takes money out of farmers' pockets. We cannot support it as currently constructed.

We must remain cognisant in any debate on Irish agriculture that without a European Union structure in place, Irish agriculture would not exist. Ireland would be Iceland without the European Union. Notwithstanding that a poll is a poll and we are always told to say it is only a snapshot, especially when the results are bad, I take some solace from the most recent opinion poll. It reflects support for the European Union and the possibility of a Lisbon treaty rerun and there is a new realism among those in Irish agriculture. I hope the Irish farming community and farm leaders recognise that without Europe and without our close involvement at the heart of European decision making, there would be no future for Irish agriculture. No matter how big our challenges and no matter how deep our difficulties, and big and deep they are, there is no way forward without Europe. That is something we need to keep to the fore of our arguments.