• “Farming is not a soft target by any stretch of the imagination” – Micheál Martin.
  • “We inherited serial objectors that nearly brought forestry to a halt” – Micheál Martin.
  • “That’s the last time I stay behind on my own. The questions have got a lot tougher since the Minister left” – Brendan Gleeson, secretary general, who remained to answer questions after the ministers had all departed.
  • “We are looking at a perfect storm, with fertiliser prices out of control but also pesticides rising fast. Glyphosate has doubled in price. This is on top of significant cuts to most tillage farmers’ payments under CAP reform” – Kieran McEvoy IFA grain chair.
  • “If other sectors are experiencing a perfect storm, pig producers are already in a tornado with product prices not even meeting feed bills. We need an immediate significant injection of Government funding to ensure our survival. Pig farming is cyclical, but we have never seen a cycle as vicious as this one” – IFA pig chair Roy Gaillie.