Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)

Everybody including farmers accepts that difficult decisions needed to be made to balance the books in the budget, but this is an issue of equity and fairness. The budget published in October specifically targets farmers, especially young and small farmers.

By cutting the disadvantaged area payments, it is targeting the most marginal land in the country and as a result, the most vulnerable farmers. Some 1,600 farmers throughout County Roscommon will lose on average €1,500 in this measure alone. A thousand farmers in County Leitrim will lose on average €1,300 on the disadvantaged area payment.

The cuts in the early retirement scheme, the installation aid, the suckler cow scheme and the farm waste management grant send a clear message that as far as the Government is concerned there is no future in agriculture and the only choice for young people interested in farming is to take the boat, or take the plane and be taxed, and leave the country.

The agricultural cuts announced in the budget are only part of the rural dirty dozen of cuts that impact on education, on rural development and on the elderly. Some have suggested that the modulation cuts, about which the Minister gave himself a clap on the back in Brussels, should be used to subvent this. They should not be used for that purpose.

This is about equity and fairness. The agricultural community has been penalised more than any other sector in the Irish economy and the funding that has been made available because of the penalty put on farmers on the single farm payment must be ringfenced for the sheep sector.

There is a deficit in sheep meat within the European Union. Deputy Sargent, the Green Party Minister of State, would talk about food miles and about the carbon cost in bringing food the whole way around the world. Here is a way that we can solve that problem. Instead of bringing sheep meat from New Zealand, let us produce it here in Ireland and let us support Irish farmers to do so.

The reality is the budget cuts take €8.5 million out of the local economy in Roscommon and Leitrim. This is money that will cut the fabric of rural Ireland and cut the backbone out of the local economy. At present, we are losing 78 jobs a week since the Taoiseach took over the running of the Government, and that number will increase with the cutbacks that have been announced in the budget. I commend the motion to the House.

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