Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

As we speak, a group of farmers is meeting in my County Meath constituency, not just to discuss this issue, but farming in general. This time last year, they were receiving 44 cent per gallon for winter milk and 40 cent for spring milk. The corresponding figures this year are 38 cent and 27 cent. Beef, lamb and pork prices have remained stagnant, while winter crops are down by €100 per tonne. Last year there was a great lift in farming due to price rises, favourable weather conditions and the installation grant. The latter grant and others encouraged young farmers' endeavours. Since I became a farmer, after leaving school aged 15, the agricultural sector has varied through good times and bad. If there was a chance of progressing, farmers always pumped all their money into the land, even neglecting the kitchen, so their wives suffered. Thanks to those grants over the past two years many young people decided to return home and engage in farming. They did not want to do so under the old conditions, however, preferring to up-date farming methods like their counterparts in other countries.

Ireland has the best food in the world so it is a shame that there should be any suggestion of stopping the growth that began in the farming sector two years ago. The world's population is growing exponentially and food is the game to be in. Ireland has a good name in that regard, but the budget has stagnated everything in the one industry that has built up this country. Many people left farming to engage in the building industry, but they will now have to return to their farms. In the coming decades, we will have a population of 6.5 million. A shortage of food is forecast internationally so there is no point in cutting agricultural subsidies here. The sector should be allowed to continue to grow by pumping in Government aid. We have the land, skills and qualities required so it is unacceptable to cut assistance to farmers. It is the wrong time to do so.

The Acting Chairman, Deputy Johnny Brady, and I come from similar parishes in the same county where eight out of ten people have left farming. Some of the best farmers in the country have chosen to leave, and the acting Chairman knows who I am talking about. In addition, their sons did not go into farming. Installation and other grants persuaded a few to remain in farming, but I know several young farmers who plan to quit the agricultural sector next year.

I urge the Government to encourage the greatest industry this country has ever had. It should not stop half way, like a cow we used to have. She would fill a bucket of milk and then kick it over. That is basically what this budget was about — it kicked the bucket when it was full of milk, leaving farmers high and dry. I urge the Government to use its power to get the agricultural industry back on track. We should have a two-day debate on the agricultural sector, which will put this country back on the road to recovery when everything else has failed.

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