Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)

I am grateful for the opportunity to raise the plight of hill farmers in this Adjournment debate. Yesterday, I was at a meeting in Westport, which was attended by at least 500 farmers from Mayo, Connemara and Sligo. They are annoyed about what they perceive as a threat to reduce REPS payments. It is unfair to expect hill farmers to take a 30% cut in incomes, as a result of the Fischler CAP reforms and the incompetence of the Department of Agriculture and Food in tackling this draconian land designation, which has left hill farmers hampered for more than six years.

Farmers in these areas could not change or improve their farming types to take account of the Fischler agreement, whereas farmers in other areas were able to increase their individual quotas in sheep, cattle, suckler cows, dairy or grain. These most vulnerable and disadvantaged people on the western seaboard have been hard done by, whereas farmers in other counties, including Kildare, could plant any crops they wished. The only option for farmers in hill areas was to farm in an environmentally friendly way through the rural environment protection scheme. Since they had no other choice, they cannot accept the measures currently being proposed by the Minister for Agriculture and Food.

Everyone agrees that REPS has been good for the environment but the current arrangements discriminate against designated areas when compared to non-designated areas. The aim is to maintain REPS payments in commonage and SAC areas, which amounts to discrimination. It is obvious that all farmers with commonage and SAC land on their area aid applications, who are forced to be either in REPS or the national compensation scheme, are under threat.

For example, a farmer with 40 hectares, all of which is either designated and/or commonage, will see his or her payment reduced from €9,680 to €6,040 — a reduction of 40%. Who could tolerate a cut like that? By comparison, the new REP scheme for non-designated areas increases payments by up to 30%, as well as allowing farmers to qualify for additional measures. Meanwhile, farmers in commonage and SACs are facing a reduction of up to 30% and are not eligible for extra measures. The latter group will have to farm under severe environmental restrictions and their stock numbers are limited by the commonage framework plan.

In County Mayo, the single farm payment value of the sheep stock is €0.9 million, while the estimated loss of REPS payments will be up to €7 million. For 2,500 farmers in County Mayo, the loss is estimated at €6.1 million. Everybody is demanding that this cut should be resisted and that REPS payments in commonage and SAC areas be addressed.

Thousands of farmers have already left the land and many more will do so in future. These are the people who need help, instead of which they are being badly affected by the proposals. The problem extends beyond the farming community to shopkeepers, publicans, pharmacists, doctors and others. Everyone is affected because it means that income is being taken away from the area. Those who were forced into REPS had no choice and are now being severely punished because of that. The net loss to County Mayo should not be tolerated because it will have a huge impact on rural life. It is a major blow and a threat to those involved. The money, upon which local businesses depend, is not even going into the State's coffers but back to Brussels.

I am sure the Minister of State would agree that farmers have been looking after the land well for generations. I hope he will address this matter urgently. Maximum pressure is required to resolve this issue and if it entails officials working this out, it should be done, no matter how long it takes. The people concerned want their entitlements, including a REPS increase which is badly needed. One no longer hears of young people taking up hill farming, so if such farming is to have a future it is time to address this situation urgently.

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