Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

The Government is also investing significantly in the dairy processing industry, through the dairy investment fund, to ensure it will have the capacity to process the increased yield I believe dairy farmers will be more than capable of producing.

I had identified the maintenance of market supports as a particular priority given Ireland's seasonal pattern of production. Despite significant opposition, I secured agreement to the retention of intervention for butter and skimmed milk powder, without losing the compulsory purchase at the intervention price of the first 30,000 tonnes of butter and 109,000 tonnes of skimmed milk powder. Coupled with the retention of private storage aid for butter, in its current form, this was a very significant achievement.

A further priority of mine was to secure national discretion for the operation of specific supports funded from the single payment ceiling. I am particularly pleased that we succeeded in this aim. I was one of the first to press for this initiative and the deal agreed means that a minimum of around €23 million in new money will be available to Irish farmers from 2010, with a much smaller amount available in 2009. I invited the farm organisations to meet me later this month to discuss how best this new money can be used and a date for that meeting has now been fixed. Although I think it important to get the views of the stakeholders, I do not intend this to be a lengthy process and I expect to be in a position to come to an early decision following the forthcoming meeting.

I have previously expressed my concern for the sheep sector in particular and have repeatedly acknowledged that this sector needs support, given its importance. I am particularly conscious of the decline in production in recent years and of decline in demand this year. My position in respect of the sheep sector has been consistent and remains exactly as I outlined it at a European sheep conference last September and, more recently, when I addressed the sheep farmers conference organised by the Irish Farmers Association in Tullamore. On that occasion I said I wanted to ensure that the changes in the health check initiative will open the possibility for some useful action in the sheep sector.

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