Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----is intended to set a price and allow for intervention. We export 90% of our food but the Deputy feels it is simply a matter of passing legislation to set what that price should be and all will be well with the world. That is the sort of fairytale he peddles. I grew up on a family farm, the income from which was our sole income. We milked our own cow every morning and grew our own vegetables, including potatoes. We killed a heifer and a sheep every year. The income and lifestyle we had growing up on our family farm was comparable with what was happening in the country because we were not as wealthy a country at the time and there were no other job opportunities. You were lucky if you were able to grow your own produce. We still have that family farm at home but it is now a part-time rather than a full-time farm. That is the situation on many farms and reflects the commitment that families have to those farms. As Minister, I am committed to ensuring that even if a farm is being farmed part time or full time, we make it worth the time of the farmer to farm it. We have done that through the schemes and funding we have put in place. We have also done so through the agrifood regulator, which is working to ensure farmers get fair play in the marketplace. The Deputy must remember that we operate in a world marketplace that sets the price. No matter what legislation he might make up or whatever fairytale he might be peddling, there is no way he will change that.

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