Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like my colleagues, I have met the farmers, male and female, across Cavan and Monaghan who have stood on the picket lines in recent weeks. It was heartbreaking to stand there and have conversations with them. There were women on the picket lines as well as the male farmers and they were there with their very small children out of love, passion and concern not just for their livelihoods but also for the land and where we are going when it comes to agriculture. The farmers in Cavan and Monaghan feel very passionately about this because they feel they are not getting a fair slice of the cake. Who could argue with that when we see some of the statistics that have been put out in recent weeks for the proportion they were getting as opposed to the meat processors and retailers.

My colleague, Deputy McConalogue, and with our agriculture team brought forward a motion to the Minister of State last March. They saw this coming years ago. I speak on behalf of the farmers in Cavan and Monaghan. They feel that the Minister has sat on his hands when it comes to the base price they have been offered, the 30-month age restrictions, the four-movement rule, the weight restrictions on cattle and so on. Above all this is transparency. Transparency is key, as is the ability to listen. While the Minister has left it to the very last hour to get people around the table, there is huge work to be done to restore farmers' confidence that there is a future in farming.

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