Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There was a time when the so-called Celtic tiger was stalking the land and when, if we were to believe the prevailing wisdom of the Government and media at the time, the farming community thought it was the Cinderella of the Irish economy. The crash came and the tiger went away. Lo and behold, agriculture not only survived the crash, but it turned out to be the one sector which remained relatively stable and which has even shown growth and job creation potential. I emphasise the word "potential".

Jobs in agriculture are deeply embedded in the economy. Food processing operations, for example, use raw materials from the surrounding area, employ local people and contribute to the economy in a meaningful way. This, in turn, grows a local economy around them. For example, when the sugar industry was sold out by Fianna Fáil, the repercussions were felt far beyond the gates of the factories or the fields of beet that surrounded them. Hauliers, agricultural contractors, shopkeepers, garages, guesthouses and all types of businesses depending on sugar went to the wall as a result.

I grew up on a small farm that grew sugarbeet. It was a cash crop for Christmas and a crop that lasted almost 80 years. It provided a fantastic benefit to the economy in rural Ireland. Sadly, the previous Government in its stupidity gave away that industry and accused those who opposed the decision of being economically illiterate. My understanding is that other people are working at the moment to try to bring that industry back. I wish them well and I give them my full support.

The agrifood sector is badly in need of more integrated development of supply chains in the meat and dairy sectors. This can be done while maintaining the structure of the family farm and encouraging young farmers to take over from the previous generation and bring the necessary innovation, imagination, research and product development to grow the sector and increase the native consumption and export of Irish food.

The value and potential value of agricultural exports is significant not only in economic terms, but also in the manner in which the quality and standard of Irish food turns a profit and publicises the country at its best, that is, as a green clean beautiful place producing green clean food. While this is a healthy image to promote abroad, the reality for many of us living outside the big urban centres is that rural Ireland is in crisis. I remain concerned about a lobby that is trying to promote genetically modified produce in the country. This could be detrimental to the green imagery and food safety aspects of our products.

Despite the Government's declared priorities to protect vulnerable sectors of society, support disadvantaged areas and protect what we hold dear about our rural way of life, it has allowed its austerity policies to create havoc. The Minister of State knows well what I am about to say and the list I am about to recite on the record; I have done it time and again. The tragedy is that the list is growing longer. This Government and, to a far greater extent, the previous Fianna Fáil Green Party Government before it set about closing rural post offices. This is a cruel blow to any community and anyone who lives in isolated areas of rural Ireland knows what I am talking about. Anyone who knows anything about rural life in Irish towns and villages knows that the post office is a hub for the entire community. From the way the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, has been talking recently, it seems he believes that the Irish high street as we know it is a thing of the past. We have seen the closure of post offices, Garda stations, small schools and hundreds of small businesses and creameries, all of which were at the heart of rural Ireland. It is a sad sight to see the number of empty premises along main streets throughout the State.

The Government is altogether mistaken if it believes that the people of rural Ireland are happy to become idle custodians of wind turbines and pylons in order that private companies can export energy to Britain and France. The people who live in rural areas will not stand for it. Those in the Government might think that they can postpone plans for turbines and pylons until after the local elections but they are mistaken if they believe that people will tolerate this intolerable situation.

The Government's talk of so-called recovery does not cut it in parts of the country like the south and the west, where many areas cannot field a hurling or football team because the young lads are gone to look for work abroad. Those of us who live in the south west, the west and perhaps other parts of the country in rural isolated areas know full well what I am talking about. Some people might be benefiting from Government and EU policies but the vast majority in the south and west are not in that category.

The negotiations during the past two years on the Common Agricultural Policy from 2015 to 2020 presented an opportunity to bring more equity to the programme but the Minister failed to deliver on those expectations. In the recent past I have attended sizeable meetings along the western seaboard where people expressed growing dissatisfaction with the Government and EU policies and the direction being taken by some among the farm leadership. The anger at some of these meetings which I attended was palpable. Anything up to 600 people turned up at these meetings. Furthermore, it is not only a case of one or two meetings; they are taking place across the western seaboard.

One of the things which has angered people most is something the Government falsely claimed to prioritise. I am referring to a lack of a scheme to replace the rural environment protection scheme 4 for 2014. Are the Government and the Minister so far removed from reality that they believe it is acceptable to leave a large percentage of Irish farmers in disadvantaged areas with no payment for the entire year? The reality is that people coming out of REPS 4 in January and February this year will have no payment until the new alternative payment kicks in in January next year. I am referring to farmers in the more disadvantaged areas and the low-income farming sector, the farmers most in need.

The REPS payments were invaluable not only to the environment which they were designed to protect, but also to the more marginalised and weaker farmers in receipt of them. While the farming community awaits a final decision regarding Pillar 2, it is of huge importance to have a scheme to replace REPS 4 that will not reduce farm incomes of that sector.

Another source of great anger in rural communities are the issues surrounding land eligibility. I am calling for an amnesty for those in the lower bracket of farming affected by the Minister’s demand for a clawback of payments since 2009. Most people, including the Department, believed they were compliant. A change in the methodology regarding a satellite caused the clawback demand. The Minister should re-examine what are being called overclaims. Manual inspections often reverse them and such inspections should be facilitated for those seeking them. Those still outstanding after manual inspection, which we believe to be a small number, should be given an amnesty so that weaker sections of the farming community will not be penalised. It is a way out of this situation which does not involve big money and will not penalise people who believed they were compliant, as did the Department.

Then we have the issue of retired farmers and the new CAP. The retired farmers scheme was outstanding which, along with installation aid, allowed young farmers to start up while older farmers handed over to a new generation. Both schemes encouraged young people into the sector but there are severe difficulties now for some people who leased their land entitlements and did not farm in 2013.

In common with many Deputies, I have received representations from some older farmers and some younger ones who, due to ill health, leased their land in 2013 - which is now the reference year - and now find themselves without a pension. They will be forced to sell their entitlements and pay capital gains tax in some cases. This was visited upon them without warning. The Minister should re-examine this situation and come to the aid of those who unwittingly leased their lands in 2013 and find themselves in the current situation. He has an opportunity to make things more equitable and fair, and in doing so will maintain a strong and vibrant rural economy. I call on him to prioritise rural Ireland. It is not just part of what we are, it is also what we are. Rural Deputies, some of whom are present in the Chamber, will know full well what I am talking about. Rural Ireland has taken a huge hit.

I have not yet touched on the fishing sector, some 85% of which has been decimated. Boats have been tied up since the second week of December and have not gone to sea. They may have been able to undertake fishing this week but they are self-employed and have no income. They cannot get jobseeker's benefit or jobseeker's allowance. They must go cap-in-hand to the community welfare officer if they can find him. However, community welfare officers are being withdrawn from certain areas which makes it harder for people to obtain the necessary entitlements.

The system needs to be examined. Much of what Deputy Ó Cuív said about manufacturing or sexing up unemployment figures to look good is correct. People coming off jobseeker's benefit are unable to get the jobseeker's allowance because they may have a capital investment, such as a small farm. These people are supposed to be returning to work. They have been working all along, while their income was substituted by jobseeker's benefit and the farm job before that. That is 30,000 of the so-called 61,000 who are back to work this year. If the Minister of State believes the figures, he is fooling himself.

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