Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Today's briefing is important in light of what has transpired with regard to the budget. One could argue that it is perhaps the best deal we could have got, but it represents a cut to many farmers across the country. We must take the 3% cut, inflation and the increasing costs faced by farmers into account. The average single farm payment in Ireland is approximately €10,000. The cut will be approximately €333 per farmer. In addition, the new crisis fund that is being established involves a further 3.5%. If that is the case, the average farmer is set to lose more than €700 in his average single farm payment. That is a substantial cut, bordering on 10%. While it is suggested that a farmer will get the money back if there is no crisis, I cannot see it being returned if it is taken away. It is a difficult problem in light of increasing costs and the weather situation. It is something that needs to be addressed. I do not think the average Irish farmer can bear the brunt of that, whether he has a small or large enterprise.

The Irish allocation for rural development is €313 million. There is a 15% shift whereby one can transfer from the rural development fund into the single farm payment and vice versa. A great deal has been said about the smaller farmer being protected and looked after under Pillar 2. When one can transfer up to 15% of funds from Pillar 2 into Pillar 1, what will be left under Pillar 2? I am not clear about the €100 million that was negotiated for people under 25 years of age across Europe. The presentation referred to it as a special allocation over the full period. Is this the €100 million for unemployment? Maybe I am wrong; this might be clarified. What will the €100 million be used for?

I agree with what has been said about the reference year. It will have a knock-on effect on conacre pricing, but it will also present a great difficulty for younger farmers who will start farming after the reference year. What will be done, for example, to protect the interests of someone who is starting this year or may have started in the past 12 months because he or she has a right to obtain payments under the single farm payment scheme also? He or she should not have to look for entitlements from the national reserve. That would be totally wrong because he or she is as entitled as anyone else.

The Commission's proposal vis-à-visIreland's proposal and those of other member states gives member states flexibility to make up their minds about how they want to spend the budget. There is a notion that we must protect production, which is fine. We all subscribe to this and support the Food Harvest 2020 plan. There are approximately 123,000 single farm payment recipients, of whom 2,000 receive over €50,000. That means there are 121,000 getting less than €50,000. Protecting production is fine, but there will be no production unless small farmers on marginal land producing lambs can produce enough for export and the live trade within the State. There are two sides to the argument. The use of reference years to divide the single farm payment in the next seven years is wrong. I know farmers in my area who have obtained single farm payments in excess of €100,000. They will draw down the same amount this year and do not have any stock. They get it because they were entitled to it in the reference year. There is a neighbouring farmer, a young man who is trying to buy his way into agriculture, but he receives no single farm payment because of the way it is carved up. An element of fairness must be introduced. What steps is the Department taking to examine this issue and has there been a critical analysis carried out of the importance of small farmers feeding into the overall productive cycle of agriculture in the economy? Has any work been done on this issue? Some farmers have bought their way into payments, which is a fair argument, but the smaller guy cannot buy his way into them because he is not in receipt of the larger payments.

There are many small farmers on the western seaboard, the vast majority of whom are in receipt of single farm payments of less than €50,000. They would love to expand, but they do not have the resources to buy or lease land because the neighbour up the road or 50 miles away has a massive single farm payment and is able to outbid him or her in buying or leasing land. That is not fair. Certain farmers use the single farm payment, perhaps through no fault of their own, to compete for land available on the market and prevent smaller enterprises from expanding and developing. That is happening in certain cases and I can easily give examples of where it has happened. Any auctioneer who deals in farm land would say the same. There is a need for balance to protect production and investment but also to allow small farmers to grow and expand their enterprises and ensure those who are ecologically restricted on commonage or poor land are compensated because of the biodiversity side of the work in which they are engaged. There is a balance to be struck. I do not see anything in the Department's script to suggest it is looking for that balance. I am reading that the Department is happy with the status quo. I would appreciate the delegation's thoughts on that issue.