Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the contributors for the assessment of and perspectives on the Bill. Like the Deputies here, I am committed to protecting the Irish family farm model. To prosper, we need to ensure farming is socially, economically and environmentally sustainable. As well as ensuring the Common Agricultural Policy works for Irish farmers and that we provide other appropriate supports when required, I work across Government on issues such as access to finance. Access to finance is the lifeblood of any business, and farms are not any different in that regard. As well as working closely with financial institutions to ensure farmers continue to be well-served, we do not hesitate to act when gaps in the private market emerge. This has been seen with the development and introduction of important supports for investment finance. We have also introduced important supports over the past years to bolster resilience and ensure we can weather the challenges brought about by Brexit, Covid-19 and the impact of the war in Ukraine.

Important impaired credit arrangements are already provided for under personal insolvency law and company law, as I mentioned in my opening remarks. There are existing arrangements for mortgages and mortgage arrears. There is no evidence base to support the Bill's proposals that a separate debt management protocol and legal framework is required for agricultural property. The Bill proposes to give specific financial regulatory functions to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which would constitute unwarranted interference in the independent functions of the appropriate financial regulatory bodies and in areas of policy for which my Department does not have responsibility.

Introducing this Bill and the conditions and requirements therein would jeopardise farmers' participation in any horizontal access to financial supports, which have been useful to farmers and the agrifood sector. It also jeopardises their ability to access credit generally. Therefore, I do not believe the Bill will assist farm families or agriculture generally. Fundamentally, the restrictions it places on debt recovery in the sector are such that it would dissuade financial institutions from lending to the sector in the future.

As I already stated, I am committed to ensuring the agrifood sector has appropriate access to finance, especially in achieving the objectives and development of the sector that we outlined in Food Vision 2030. Without that access to finance, there would not be businesses. That is no different for farmers and farm families to how it is for other businesses.

I believe the introduction of this Bill and the requirements and conditions in it would hinder farmers rather than assist them. I fully appreciate and understand where the Deputies are coming from with the Bill. Like the Deputies, I understand how farming has played and will continue to play a significant role in the life of this country and of rural Ireland. However, I do not believe the Bill proposed will assist in developing the sector and ensuring it is backed financially so that it can develop and grow in future.

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