In the Seanad on 29th March 2006, in a debate on a Fianna Fáil motion about agri-food, I said:

I welcome the new plan for agriculture and the agrifood industry. I wish it every success.

Having said that, I am in some difficulty as to go next. I confess that the temptation to say “I told you so” is strong, but I will do my best to resist it. The difficulty I have in restraining myself comes from the fact that for more than 30 years I have sung only one song about the agrifood sector in Ireland. The agrifood business must focus on serving the customer instead of trying to squeeze more and more supports from the State or Europe in defiance of marketplace needs.

The words “competitiveness”, “consumer focus” and “innovation”, all buzz-words of this new approach, have been part of my songbook for many years. I must admit that my efforts fell mostly on deaf ears, even though Ministers and Departments were anxious to succeed.

Regardless of how many times farmers were told they could not go on living in the past, how often it was pointed out to people who believed they were owed a living independently of the marketplace that the lavishness of State spending must be limited, or how frequently we tried to confront the farming community with reality, farmers kept coming back for more. Mine is a lone voice on this issue, particularly in this House.

The farming community was successful in its efforts. For more than 30 years, farmers succeeded in holding back the forward march of progress. For much longer than 30 years, I do not remember what happened before that, they carved out a privileged lifestyle at the expense of the majority of this country’s citizens. For as long as any of us can remember, the farming lobby held successive Governments to ransom, and in doing so they also held the people of this country to ransom. They are tough words but it happened and I see changes.

If we take this new plan at face value, the game is up. The only way forward in the long term is the one I championed all along, namely, the way of the marketplace. From now on, the farmers of Ireland must become customer-centred and driven by customers and the market.

Will this happen? That brings me to the nub of my question. Normally, when people are confronted with unwelcome change, they are persuaded into it by the dire consequences of the alternative. When one is presented with the alternatives of either changing one’s approach or going out of business, the instinct for survival usually wins out. However, when it comes to agriculture nothing happens in the same way as in the real world.

We now have a situation where farmers are guaranteed a living if they do absolutely nothing. Farmers now live in a regime where we pay them for being farmers and not for farming. On top of this guaranteed living, they also have the freedom to engage in market-related activity, if they so choose. Unlike most business people and entrepreneurs, they can count on a fairly luxurious cushion to rest on if their business ventures fail. Their up side, if we are to believe this plan, is virtually unlimited. Their down side is extremely limited, because it is guaranteed by the State or Europe.

This plan spells out the only viable future for the agrifood business industry in Ireland. I have always believed the sector potentially has a bright future which is why I welcome this plan. We have great natural advantages, a centuries-old tradition in farming and a world reputation as a green and pleasant land which is probably more than we deserve.

This is a splendid foundation on which to build a world-class agrifood sector, dedicated to top quality and producing goods fully in line with the tastes and preferences of international customers. An example is the new organisation CAIS, which represents 30 or 40 farmhouse cheese producers. There is virtually no limit to the value we can add to the natural advantages we enjoy. For the first time in many years, the Minister for Agriculture and Food and my humble self are on the same page. We are dutifully warbling together the same hymn. This should, by any standards, be a cause for celebration, as long as no one has to listen to me sing.

Why, therefore, do I still harbour a nagging doubt about it all? Is it because I somehow question the ability of members of the farming sector to get off their armchairs and grasp this opportunity? I sincerely hope that is not the case.

After all, we have seen the Department of Agriculture and Food change before our very eyes. Is it too much to believe that the Department can bring its client farmers along with it in this total transformation? I wish the Minister and her Department well and I hope they will be able to lead this revolution to success. If they do, I will be the first to applaud.