Yes.

I would like to contribute to the discussion about farmers. Senator Craughwell has mentioned Iran as a possible market for beef and lamb. I am sure it is. This country needs to be honest and truthful when it comes to the People's Republic of China.

Hear, hear.

We are going on our knees to appease a regime that is engaging in the most dramatic and repulsive deprivation of human rights of the past five, ten or 15 years. One million people are detained in re-education camps that are run in the most vicious and humiliating way. The camps are designed to obliterate the identity, language, religious beliefs and way of life of the detainees.

Just like Tibet.

I am very grateful to the media for giving publicity to what is going on in China. All of this is being done as part of a policy that is approved by President Xi, whom we feted when he came to this country, and others in Beijing. We are on our knees trying to sell beef to these people. There has not been a whimper of protest from Iveagh House about the Uighur population being the subject of a latter-day psychological holocaust, if I can use that phrase to describe it. Do we stand for anything anymore? I do not want to talk about the carbon footprint of the agricultural trade in beef to China. Is that trade more important than the need to stand up for what we believe in as human beings? I am shocked that the Irish Government is so weak. I am grateful to the BBC "Panorama" programme the other day, which showed us the reality of what this savage regime is all about.

I support the comments of my colleague, Senator McDowell, on China. We have called previously for a detailed debate on our relationship with that country. The Asian country with which I am most familiar is Taiwan, which is a democratic republic. It has a population of 24 million and is the most democratic country in the world. Ireland does not recognise Taiwan and does not trade with it in any real way. I suggest that if this Government and previous Governments had treated Taiwan with the respect it deserves, we could be sending much more beef to Taiwan than to mainland China, and without any strings attached. When I visited Taiwan recently with a number of colleagues, we went to a food trade fair at which almost every European country was represented. However, the Republic of Ireland was not. The EU even had a stand. Most European countries have trade offices in Taipei. They trade openly with Taiwan. For some reason, we are afraid to deal with Taiwan. China only deals with us for commodities it needs. Otherwise, we would be in the ha'penny place. It is time for us to wake up and look at markets other than those that are trying to impose themselves on this country.

Well said.

Many Senators have spoken about the farmers' protests that are going on outside Leinster House. Senator McDowell has referred to the need to be "truthful". The agricultural system, as we know it, is broken. I am not surprised that farmers are on the street because they are running faster and faster just to stand still. Food is cheap. As consumers, we have to acknowledge that we are paying too little for food. I will give the House some figures in support of my contention. People in the UK and Ireland spend approximately 9% of their disposable income on food. The European average is approximately 14%. French people spend almost twice as much of their disposable income on food. We must be under no illusions about the fact that cheap food is part of this problem. It is not solely about pricing. We have all spoken about the three pillars of sustainability. We all know about economic, social and environmental sustainability. Farmers are working tirelessly on a daily basis to ensure they produce food as efficiently as they can. We need to develop systems that will reduce losses. Most of all, we need to help the agriculture industry to develop robust and healthy animals, genetics to reduce waste, precision farming and positive welfare attributes. They need support. It is not all bad. I am frustrated by the continual bad news stories that are coming from the industry as it comes under immense pressure from animal welfare groups and environmentalists. I will give the House some statistics that were shared with me yesterday. We need to stop beating our farmers up because they are doing a good job.

Hear, hear.

In 2007, it took 35% less water, 23% less food, 21% less livestock, 11% less land, 56% less nitrous oxide, 43% less methane and 24% less manure to produce a litre of milk than it did in 1944.

Those guys are doing a good job and are getting better and better, but we keep beating up on them. We need some systems thinking. We need the Government, farmers, industry and consumers, in conjunction with research and academic, working together. To make changes and stop these farmers taking to the streets, we will have to address a broken agricultural system.