Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I also welcome the Minister to the House and congratulate him on his hard work and negotiations on Pillar 2 and the rural development programme. There is much to be welcomed. I note the provision of €80 per suckler cow and many other things that will make a difference in particular to small farmers. The last time the Minister addressed this House he pointed out that the CAP was not just a gravy train for farmers and that it represented a contract with farmers in Europe to produce in certain conditions and to a certain standard, with a particular focus on environmental protection, and to provide all sorts of non-economic goods in exchange for the benefits they were getting. I absolutely agree with him.

I know he would share my view that it also entails contributing to the quality of rural life and maintaining our way of life. I come from a small farm. The average annual income of a suckler farmer is €10,000 whereas that of the dairy farmer is €50,000, which is quite a dramatic disparity. Many farmers in the Border areas depend on Pillar 2 funding to make that difference so that they can earn a livelihood of sorts.

We are aware of the pressure on farmers in the past five years, with the loss of approximately one third of off-farm jobs on which many farmers depend. Although there are good aspects of the story, this is a time of pressure for farmers and they have been coming off the land. We should commit to maintaining a certain number of people on the land. We must not go from having family farms to farm factories. Public policy should state that we want to keep a certain number of people on the land. I would be grateful for the Minister’s thoughts on that. I am sure he would sympathise with it.