Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)

I thank the Government Whip for agreeing to allow time for this debate. I sought this debate last Thursday because many things have happened regarding agriculture. Discussions were taking place outside but this House had no relevance to them. I am glad the Minister came here today and clearly laid out her stall. As Deputy Creed said, we do not have any major disagreement with her; it is the delivery that is all-important.

There is considerable anxiety among young farmers especially. They are making major investments at present, which is great. However, there is concern over what the future holds, particularly for the beef sector. It would be better to have no agreement than to have a bad agreement. The Common Agricultural Policy has been good for Ireland over the years. It has been altered dramatically with the MacSharry and other changes in more recent times. We now have direct payments rather than supports for the beef and dairy sectors. Following those direct payments, farmers must compete in world markets.

The main anxiety is that Commissioner Mandelson seems to have a free hand. It is unacceptable that a man with his attitude towards agriculture is negotiating on our behalf without being reined in. I am glad to have the opportunity not only to congratulate the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on her stand, but also to call on the Taoiseach and every member of his Cabinet to back her. Ultimately, it will be dealt with at Heads of Government level. The Taoiseach with all his contacts in Europe needs to work to ensure that Commissioner Mandelson is reined in and told how important agriculture is not just to Ireland, but to the entire European Community.

As other speakers have said, Europe used to have enormous surpluses, but not any longer. With the prices being paid in some sectors, the change is dramatic. The county I represent, Monaghan, accounted for 66% of all poultry production in the country. The poultry sector has been through dramatic times. Grove Turkeys is winding down its slaughtering capacity. Some 85 farmers just do not know where to go. Poultry farmers are seeing imports from Thailand, Brazil and elsewhere which have been produced under totally different conditions from those under which we must produce. That is the free trade against which they must operate. They are under strict veterinary control, but there is no veterinary control at European level. For example, if the European Union wants to sell beef to any third country we must accept the vets and personnel from that country on the line on the day and not one animal can be slaughtered without that person being present. However, we allow product into this country without any supervision other than spot inspections, advice of which is given in advance. Farmers would love those sorts of inspections. Irish farmers, especially the young ones, are concerned that the WTO talks will be handled by Commissioner Mandelson.

While the issue of labelling is not relevant to the WTO in one sense, it is relevant to people knowing the origin of the product and that it is a quality product. The Government needs to consider the matter very seriously.

The dairy sector has gone through a reasonably good time in the recent past. Again, the WTO will have serious implications for it. As Deputy Johnny Brady and other members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food can verify, we saw US dairy farmers using steroids in milk producing cows. While we do not want that, we want fair competition, which is why I insisted on having a debate on the WTO talks in this House. One must wonder if the talks are being held back to allow the referendum on the Lisbon treaty to take place first. The original IFA stance on the treaty was supportive. However, suddenly when the issue of the WTO talks arose, it decided that if the talks were not successful it would oppose the treaty. We need clarification from the IFA on the matter.

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