Mr. Joe Healy:

I thank the Chairman, Deputies and Senators for their invitation to address the committee today. I am joined by my two colleagues, Mr. Thomas Cooney, chairman of the IFA environment and rural affairs committee and Mr. Thomas Ryan, a member of the IFA environment and rural affairs executive.

For those of us who live and work in rural Ireland, it is a place we love to live in. We enjoy living and working in rural Ireland. As President of the IFA I am proud to say that farming is the backbone of economic activity across the countryside. Farming is Ireland's largest indigenous productive sector. The sector exported food and drink worth almost €11 billion last year and provides employment to more than 300,000 people directly and indirectly. Farming has been one of the key drivers in Ireland's economic recovery. The IFA believes that the recovery has not been felt evenly in all areas and definitely not by people who reside in rural Ireland.

The vote by the UK to leave the EU earlier this year has already had a disproportionate impact on the rural economy. The depreciation of sterling has had an immediate and negative price impact on agrifood exports and exports from Irish owned SMEs for whom the UK is the destination for over 40% of our products. The strategic response by the Government to the UK's Brexit decision will have a defining impact on the Irish rural economy. We feel strongly that the Government must use its strong relationships with the UK and EU to influence as positive an outcome to the negotiations as possible. We want the positive trading relationship with the UK maintained, we want a strong CAP budget retained and the free movement of people must be maintained. These are three key priorities.

The Government has recognised the importance of a vibrant countryside, not just for farmers, but for the wider rural community. That view was reflected in the recent budget and provided the following: increased funding support for farm schemes, the amendment of the income averaging system to deal with income volatility and cashflow pressures; and the provision of a lower cost interest rate on borrowings for farmers. Also, the reversal of the cuts to the farm assist scheme is hugely positive. It provides a vital support to low income farmers and allows them to remain farming and living in rural Ireland.

Broader support for the rural economy has been provided through measures such as the increased allocation for Leader and CLÁR funding, an increased number of places for the rural social scheme and increased funding for the national broadband scheme. The reduced rate that applies to the capital gains tax entrepreneur relief will also make a difference. There are a great many small business success stories in rural Ireland, many of which are unheralded enterprises that provide vital employment and income in rural areas.

The IFA has, over many years, developed clear proposals to sustain rural communities. It has published two key policy papers in this area and I have copies of them with me. The proposals have contributed to the significant work undertaken by the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas, CEDRA. I hope it will also feature strongly in the Government's proposed action plan for rural Ireland but action is now required. The CEDRA report has recognised that rural areas outside of the State's five main cities have been particularly affected by the post-2008 economic downturn with an increase in unemployment of 192%. The action to be taken must be a total Government response. The national consultation meetings on the development of an action plan have concluded and it is essential that further progress is made.

The CEDRA report and its 34 recommendations cannot just be remembered as good ideas. Actions, responsibilities and delivery timelines are required if the Programme for Government's commitment to deliver 135,000 jobs outside of Dublin by 2020 is to be delivered. To support this initiative the IFA has identified a number priorities that we believe will sustain viable rural communities. They are as follows - A high quality rural fibre broadband network across the countryside to support farm business, job creation, investment and rural development; a three-year exemption from local authority rates for new business start-ups to support local enterprise development in rural areas; measures such as tax credits to encourage employers to take on apprentices and create long-term employment; tax incentives for businesses to locate in villages and town centres that were decimated during the recession; increased and measurable targets for policing hours and the presence of mobile units in rural areas by An Garda Síochána to reduce crime and create a greater sense of security in the countryside; an increased and ring-fenced annual rural roads budget from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport each year allocated to local authorities as part of a planned repair and maintenance programme; the re-establishment of a separate local improvement scheme fund in each local authority; an increase in the number of voluntary rural walk schemes to support economic development and tourism in rural areas; a package of measures to facilitate the development of proposed Greenway projects that works in co-operation with landowners impacted and protects their rights; a review of the hedgecutting dates to reduce the closed period in line with the nesting season; and increased fines and greater enforcement by local authorities to tackle the scourge of littering by passing motorists and users of the countryside.

On the issue of broadband, the case is well made, but the need for action is long overdue. The plan needs to be announced and rolled out as quickly as possible and the following elements must underpin it. First, it must be fibre-based, and to the home. Second, it must be as cost competitive for the homeowners living in Dingle to receive it as it is for their Dublin cousins and third, clear and equivalent download and upload criteria must be set out in the tenders.

Our apprenticeship proposal is based on the Canadian model, whereby the employer receives an annual tax credit equal to 10% of the apprentice’s salary, up to a maximum of $2,000 per year. With regard to rural security, the additional Garda resources announced are welcomed. However the basic question remains: what will this mean for rural Ireland? Objective and measurable hours of policing carried out in rural Ireland must be published by An Garda Síochána. We need to know that the additional resources are delivering.

Littering is a blight on the countryside. In 2014, the IFA conducted a survey which found that almost two-thirds of members are concerned about the issue of rural littering, and 95% of those surveyed support the introduction of stronger penalties being imposed on anyone who dumps litter out of cars and along roadside verges. I speak from experience because I have land along a main road and I see bags that have been thrown on to it every week. The IFA would welcome the support of the committee on this issue and also to address the anomaly in the existing littering legislation, which currently holds landowners legally responsible for the rubbish dumped on their lands by third parties who use the countryside as a dumping ground.

We are happy to expand on the points I have mentioned. I again thank the Chairman and the committee for the taking the time to consider what it takes to sustain a rural economy and I hope the presentation has given them the IFA's perspectives. Between the three of us, we will our best to answer questions.