Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

Farming as we know it is being significantly run down by the Government. I believe farming has been made the fall guy of climate change. This is bizarre and absolutely false. It is incredible that we live in a country where the level of air travel and the number of data centres are still increasing, yet the finger is being pointed by the Government and the political establishment at farmers as if they are the threat in terms of climate change.

Farming is also being sacrificed by the Government in terms of preserving its relationship with the EU. We saw the same thing happen with fishing, which was gutted by the political establishment in this country - a cap-tipping political establishment that has refused to stand up to the European Union. We have reached a situation whereby only 15% of the fish caught in Irish waters are caught by Irish fishermen and fisherwomen.

The same treatment is now about to be meted out to the farming industry. This is quite shocking because the other issue farming is suffering from is that we have a very Dublin-centric Government. The centre of gravity of this Government is in south Dublin. There are always exceptions to the rule. There is a constituency of Dublin Rathdown where all four TDs are ministers and there are ten counties in the west and midlands of the country where there are no Ministers at all. Regional and rural Ireland is not at the decision-making table on a regular basis, except in a token fashion. We have an incredible situation currently happening in farming. We just need to look to Teagasc. This body has stated that 30% of farmers are making a loss. Only about 35% of farmers are making a living because somebody is working off the farm. Only about 37% of farmers are actually making a living from their farm itself. One of the reasons this is happening is that we have an industry structure where food is very profitable, but unfortunately the supply chain contains factories, supermarkets and the farmers. Most of the profit is landing in the hands of the factories and supermarkets. This is being allowed to happen because the Government is not holding their competitive power to account. Yes, we have the food ombudsman's office, but we have yet to see any muscles flexed in putting manners on the factories and the supermarkets regarding their profits.

We are now in a situation where, every year, there are fewer and fewer farmers in the country. This is a startling situation and has an enormous negative impact on regional and rural Ireland. Now farmers are in the middle of another shocking situation. The weather has been a disaster since July last year. Cattle were brought in off the land at least a month earlier before winter. Cattle that should have been out at the end of February and St. Patrick's Day are only now getting onto the land. This is an incredible situation which is causing enormous damage. Straw is being imported from Britain at the moment. Planting is also being delayed, which will have significant knock-on effects in terms of the workload of farmers and the ability of farmers to still plant and still be able to harvest at the end of the day. I know farmers who are still struggling to deal with slurry because they have nowhere to put the excess and farmers who are drawing silage, some of it six or seven years old, from neighbouring farms.

Unless real attention is given to farmers we are not going to get to a situation where we have a sustainable farming community. I know the Government comes in with this fund here and that fund there at times of difficulties. I welcome those funds of those times although I believe they are piecemeal and not enough. We need to take a completely new approach to farming. We need to realise that food security is of enormous importance to the country. Food security can only be guaranteed if we have a farming sector that is actually viable, has a future and does not have to deal with the extra costs and regulation the Government is imposing. I do not see this happening. I do not see the Government showing any great understanding of how to put farming on a proper structure in future. The first way to do it is to tackle the competitive powers of the factories and supermarkets. I do not believe that the Government has the energy or the backbone to do so. We also need to tackle the European Union when it comes to extra pressure that has been put on our farmers. Again, I do not see the will or the backbone from the Government to do this.

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