Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms Brown for attending this Oireachtas meeting and for being informative. In the part of Ireland I represent, small farmers and part-time farmers must be protected. There would be no life to be had in very rural regions if farmers were not compensated or given funding. They have depended on the funding they have received over the years from the EU. I certainly hope their support will not be cut in any way. They cannot afford their income to be reduced any further. We must remember that these payments from the EU are compensation, not a gift. It is compensation for not being paid properly for their produce in the first place. Ms Brown spoke of more flexibility for medium and smaller farmers. Will she delve into that a little bit further or explain how it will happen? We cannot cut the support for these people. There is no room for cuts there.

Many suckler herd farmers will leave the sector the next few years. If we do not have the calf, then we do not have the heifer or the bullock down the road. Traditionally the farmers in Kerry, west Cork, Mayo and Clare supply the weanlings. They produce very good animals and they are very good at it, but they are not being paid or rewarded. Some of these farmers are barely existing. Costs have risen and the price of the beef has not increased. At Castleisland mart back in 1984 or 1985 weanlings made £720. The very same type of weanling in recent times has only made €750. We all know that costs have risen since that time. We see what is happening daily with rising fuel costs, which affect every farmer.

The other thing we worry about is food and beef coming in from countries where standards are not as high and where it is produced more cheaply because it is not produced to the standards our farmers produce it to. I firmly believe Irish farmers cannot survive without financial assistance from Europe but in tandem with that I believe Europe needs Irish farmers. They provide a safe and well produced product to a high standard.

The other worry I have is Leader funding. I do not know if the witnesses are aware of the changes that have occurred in the way the Leader funding has been administered, or is not administered, in certain areas. For 25 years, there was a bottom up approach and the development companies, which were not politically aligned, dealt very fairly with rural areas and provided the necessary funding and assistance that was needed to keep rural communities in existence. I am worried about the way it has been aligned with local authorities. Local authorities do their business very well but I am worried that they will cater more for the centres with greater populations. I would like it if the witnesses would address that concern because the way we administered the Leader funding over the years was highly regarded and I wonder what Europe thinks of the changes that have taken place where the funding is administered through the local authorities. Are the witnesses concerned about that?