Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)

Sadly, the Estimates are nothing more than a paper exercise. The Minister for Agriculture and Food has underspent by €2,500 per farmer in the past three years, at a time when investment in the agrifood sector is desperately needed. This is a clear indication of how low a priority this important economic sector is for the Government.

In the past three years nearly €316 million has been left unspent by the Department of Agriculture and Food, money vital to the development and modernisation of our agrifood industry which is the country's most important manufacturing industry, accounting for more than 8% of economic activity. This is further compounded by the agriculture Estimate, with its welcome headline increase but a 3% cut in the allocation for research and development and forestry. When inflation is taken into account, it is a significant cut in the available funding for the two most important growth areas in agriculture. These are key areas for the development of agriculture, particularly for the food and biofuels industries. Their neglect indicates the Government has no grand plan for agriculture and lacks commitment to farming.

The cutbacks in the research and development budget are further evidence that the Minister for Agriculture and Food is failing to understand farmers will have no future, unless funding to develop and promote the food industry is significantly increased. The aim must be to make Ireland the world leader in food production. These cutbacks make the achievement of such an aim remote. The Fine Gael Party wants the same priority to be given to investment in research and development for the food industry as has been given to other high-tech industries. The agrifood sector should no longer be the poor relation.

Despite all the talk at Government level about meeting our Kyoto Protocol commitments and developing a sustainable energy sector, it has decided to scale back its investment in forestry. This is an acknowledgement by the Government that its own ambitious plans for the forestry sector have failed. The existing sector is worth over €700 million annually and has the potential to meet 30% of Ireland's total renewable heat and power requirements. The Government's ambitious plan for the sector has failed. It must review its forestry policy, setting clear targets for the wood energy sector. The existing forestry grant aid schemes must be better integrated with REPS, as the two are currently in competition. Forestry grants must be repositioned to promote and develop sustainable forestry, with a greater emphasis on short rotation coppice forestry such as willow.

The Government's agriculture policy lacks direction. Earlier this year the Minister for Agriculture and Food announced a €300 million fund for the development of the dairy industry, a welcome development if properly focused. However, the Minister's failure to set down any direction for the fund or a plan on its objectives means it will become nothing more than another lost opportunity. This is not the first time the Minister has taken a back seat on such critical issues. The nitrates directive mess is a prime example of bureaucrats taking the upper hand over practical farming as the Minister sat idly by.

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