Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)

I wish to share time with Deputies Twomey and Enright.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the budget. It is an important opportunity to highlight significant weaknesses from the point of view of agriculture. We are now in an environment structured by the CAP reform, the WTO negotiations, the impending nitrates action plan and the impending closure of our sugar industry. I had hoped that in that context we would have seen some positive developments from the Minister for Finance in his presentation yesterday, but he ignored the entire area.

I will give an example of where I thought some progress might have been made. We are currently spending 4% of our total research and development budget on the food industry. The food industry in this country is worth more than €11 billion annually. It accounts for 24% of our exports, yet just 4% of the total R&D budget is spent in that area, with nothing done to address the deficit.

Agricultural incomes have collapsed. Last week, the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Deputy Coughlan, was pictured all over the place with numerous lovely cheques from the single farm payment scheme, but in reality the average farmer in Ireland will have an income this year of €15,557. That includes the single farm payment. Out of that, input costs come to €15,478, and the Government's stealth charges put in place over the past few years come to an another €3,978. Based on those figures, what the single farm payment amounts to for the average Irish farmer is a nett loss of €75 per week.

Farmers are not benefitting from the single farm payment. Yesterday, the Minister for Agriculture and Food paid lip service to the issue of agriculture. One key objective raised by all the farming organisations was that of farm consolidation. Some 30% of farms are in four or more parcels of land and for the past few years farming organisations have been pleading for the introduction of roll-over relief in relation to stamp duty for farmers who want to improve their efficiency and consolidate their farms. No recognition was given to that yesterday.

We have the crazy situation where Deputy Parlon, when leader of the IFA, negotiated a deal with the Government with regard to the compulsory purchase of land whereby farmers would get roll-over relief in regard to capital gains tax. The moment Deputy Parlon joined the Government benches, after the election, he and the Minister for Finance rescinded the deal made. Farmers are now being taxed on the compulsory purchase of land by the State with regard to our motorways around the country. A gun is being put to their heads and the Government then takes 20% in tax off the compulsory purchase price given. That is an immoral, disgraceful situation, and a spineless Minister is not prepared to even discuss the matter in the House. That is the reality farmers must deal with on a daily basis. The issue of farm consolidation was completely ignored in the budget even though the Minister paid lip service to agriculture.

I will give an example of what the budget means to farmers. A progressive farmer with an income of €30,000 per annum and two children over the age of six has benefitted from the budget by €5 weekly. Admittedly, if he had two children under the age of six, he would benefit by €33 weekly. However, the Minister also made an announcement yesterday with regard to the PAYE tax credit. This has increased by €220 to €1,490, which means farmers are losing that additional tax credit because they happen to be self-employed. They are losing out compared to other taxpayers within the economy and no recognition has been given to their income loss and the dramatic fall-off in income which has taken place over the past number of years.

Farm families and home carers did not get one extra cent from this Government. The tax credit of €770 was not touched in the budget. Incentives were given with regard to betting tax but there was nothing for the housewife who decides to stay at home and care for her children. No recognition was afforded her, nor was there any recognition for those caring for the elderly with regard to the tax system. They were completely ignored.

It is a great misfortune that we do not recognise women who work on farms and in homes in rural Ireland. Many of them work in partnership with their husbands. In some cases they own the land, but because tax and PRSI are paid by the husband, no recognition is given to these women with regard to social welfare. That is wrong and needs to be examined. No recognition was given to them in this budget with regard to the home carer's credit. Anyone with children and unfortunate enough to be on social welfare, whether it be farm assist or any other form of welfare, gets no recognition in terms of the child dependant allowance. It did not increase by one cent in this budget, even though this Government is supposed to be prioritising children in the budget. Those in the most marginal elements of society were completely ignored compared to other earners in society.

There was a silver lining with regard to biofuels. The Minister for Agriculture and Food was rushing out of the Chamber yesterday, tripping over herself to welcome that. However, in order to avail of the new biofuels package, one has to convert vehicles, and many people will not go to the cost of converting their vehicles to take biofuels. We should have introduced a measure whereby one could blend biofuels into existing fuels. In Austria, for example, 5% of the biofuel produced is mixed with petrol and 2% with diesel. Such products could be used in all vehicles and would ensure a major take-up of biofuels. It would also provide the incentive to farmers to grow biofuels. Such a measure was not introduced in this budget, however. Instead, more money was taken from farmers in terms of the VAT refund for non-VAT registered farmers. Last year, the Taoiseach gave a commitment that this provision would be reviewed this year. However, he has turned his back on farmers in this regard. Input costs have risen, returns have fallen and farmers are losing at least 1% in this area. Based on their current tight margins, this will have a significant impact.

The measures regarding stamp duty for young trained farmers are a positive development. There are many more anomalies, however, in inheritance tax and stamp duty which have not been addressed. The issue of land leases was examined but inter-family land leases are ignored. Many farming families lease their land to a son or daughter but no recognition was given to this issue by the Minister for Finance. He clapped himself on the back about the €1 billion multi-annual budget for farm investment. The reality, however, is that this €1 billion budget will be taken up in implementing the prescriptive rules laid down under the nitrates directive. It will not lead to any additional efficiency but rather to additional costs and regulations for farmers and the possibility of being prosecuted for using one bag of fertiliser more than set out in the rules. That is what has been proposed by the Government and what it plans to implement. There is very little in this for farmers and farming families.

The Minister for Finance yesterday announced €110 million for services for the elderly. This is a far cry from the €160 million that has been lost on the PPARS system. Three weeks ago, the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children came to County Roscommon and paid lip-service to the issue of services for the elderly there. We cannot recruit the specialist staff to provide these services no matter how much money is allocated. An allocation of €110 million or even €1 billion is no good unless we address the issue of recruitment.

When the Tánaiste visited Roscommon she also made the announcement that she would appoint a third consultant physician at the county hospital in Roscommon. However, she did not inform us that it would be a temporary appointment for a six-month period. The Government adopts a deceptive attitude on these and other issues. It speaks with a forked tongue about every commitment it has given and then goes behind our backs and undermines what has already been delivered. This is a spineless Government that is prepared to make announcements but not to implement and deliver its promises. A prime example of this is the guillotine hanging over the accident and emergency unit at the county hospital in Roscommon. The Tánaiste will not be back there for some time.

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