Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the delegates.

The issues the witnesses raised are raised with us regularly by people from all parts of the country. Land designation is an ongoing problem, particularly in the west of Ireland. It has a major impact on many farmers.

I wonder about the forgotten farmers and the fact that we have had no money available and no possibility of anything being done for them. There is nothing for people who are new to farming or for returning emigrants, although it is in the programme for Government. How much will it cost? When I speak to the Minister, he says the only way a reserve can be established is by taking a little from everybody else, which would be highly unpopular. I am sure others have had the same experience. If we could put a figure on it, we could work back from there.

When we questioned the Commissioner about the areas of natural constraint, he and the people from the Department, gave us the impression that there was a certain flexibility and 5% overall could be moved outside the areas. For example, if it was going to be done on a district electoral division, DED, basis, and if there were areas outside that, it could be spread outside it. The opportunity will be to try to weight the money towards the areas that need it most. The challenge is to try to make it happen and ensure the farmers who are trying to survive on marginal land, particularly in the west of Ireland and places such as Donegal and Connemara, the places for which it was originally designed, benefit most from it. This is not to say there are not bad parts of land in other counties. There are mountainous areas throughout the midlands that all deserve to get it. There must be an emphasis not just on the designation but on the payments to ensure the latter are adequate to reflect the level of disadvantage.

I fully concur regarding farm appeals. The agriculture appeals office needs to be reformed, and the court case that was taken earlier this year reflected this. There are issues, and it is an opportunity rather than a problem to try to sort it out. I welcome that the witnesses are putting pressure on, and hopefully other farming organisations are also doing it, to make it happen and ensure the farmer's voice is heard at the table.