Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

Tá áthas orm deis a bheith agam labhairt ar an Food Harvest 2020. Given the figures, there is no doubt that agriculture is key to our future, in particular our economic recovery. The increase of 8% in food and drink exports in the first half of the year compared with last year highlights this fact in the face of recessionary talk. The figures stand for themselves, but it is not enough to dwell on the 150,000 jobs or the €24 billion output. We need to consider the trends and recognise that, within the figures, people are losing out because of market pressures that are squeezing farmers out of business. I am familiar with some cases of this.

The 2020 report's template is good, as it focuses on smart green growth, as the Minister of State, Deputy Cuffe, mentioned. I agree with the Minister, Deputy Smith, in that we sell our food and drink as coming from a clean, green food island, but we must not allow the green wash talk to stand without rigorous verification to ensure our product comes from the highest environmental standards. For this reason, Food Harvest 2020 is not enough and we need to go beyond what it details. For example, it refers to dependence on the family farm and the family farm being critical, but many family farms are under pressure and quite a number of families have left farming because of the economies of scale. People in the horticulture sector with whom I am familiar in north County Dublin, County Wexford and many other areas where horticulture is important have left. So much for defending the family farm.

Not the Government, but the multiples and factories are calling the shots. I agree with the report, in that we need more producer groups, but this will not tackle the issue while the rampant discounting of fresh produce is allowed to gather momentum and to devalue the work that goes into producing the best fruit and vegetables in horticulture and all other agriculture sectors. The same goes for the meat and dairy sectors, although milk has had a bit of a bounce this year and I hope that will continue.

Horticulture is being killed off by the discounting of fresh produce. I attended the opening of an extension by the Dublin Meath Growers Society, but the rug was pulled from under the society by a large multiple. Groomes Fresh Produce faced similar problems last week, but Total Produce has come in to save those jobs, luckily enough. This is the pressure in question. Across the water in the UK, as few as three growers, a couple of which are losing money, operate on the same acreage that grows horticulture in Ireland. I do not want to stand over a situation in which we are reduced to three people in horticulture. It is hardly plural.

To this extent, the House must send the clear message that the discounting of fresh produce by the multiples is tantamount to treachery and treason because it causes the seeds of the demise of our horticulture industry to be sown. It also comes down to us to go beyond the 2020 report and to call for direct routes to markets and ways for farmers to earn a living that do not put them in hock, essentially in bondage, to the multiples. Where it is not working out for farmers, they need options. Currently, they can find none and this is the only show in time. All options - selling directly to hotels, farm shops and farmers markets, engaging in product development, changing their ways and going organic - need to be set out. Where getting new business opportunities up and running is concerned, farmers markets are as important in every town as the county enterprise board.

The 2020 report does not mention them, but the opportunities for Ireland in terms of GM-free foods also need to be recognised. Some 60-70% of European consumers want GM-free produce. It is available for sale, but the Irish Grain and Feed Association must guarantee to supply it. This is what patriotism is about. We play to our strengths and sell internationally. We are an exporting country, but we need to be able to export what consumers want.

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