Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)

The seriousness of the motion is clear. Agriculture is one of the most important industries and this is why this is one of the first motions we have brought forward under Private Members' time. It is important to hold a discussion on the importance of agriculture and the agriculture industry to the country and to the issues facing them. The motion before the House is the basis of the future of the industry. Many commentators have examined agricultural issues throughout the years. It remains one of the basic, fundamental industries throughout the country, especially in remote and peripheral regions. By and large, many of the policies we pursue in the Department are based on the Common Agricultural Policy and European policy. Following is an extract from Article 33 of the Treaty of the European Union dealing with the Common Agriculture Policy. The aim of the policy is:

(a) to increase agricultural productivity by promoting technical progress and by ensuring the rational development of agricultural production and the optimum utilisation of the factors of production, in particular labour;

(b) thus to ensure a fair standard of living for the agricultural community, in particular by increasing the individual earnings of persons engaged in agriculture;

(c) to stabilise markets;

(d) to assure the availability of supplies;

(e) to ensure that supplies reach consumers at reasonable prices.

This is the basis of the Common Agricultural Policy and the basis on which we have developed our agricultural industry since we joined the European Union and the common market in the early 1970s.

Let us consider the elements sector by sector. The basis for future policy in the dairy industry is the Food Harvest 2020 report. This is one of the best documents produced by any Government or Department in recent years. It outlines a blueprint for what is necessary for the agriculture industry to achieve viability and to ensure a future for agri-based industry. The dairy industry is at a crossroads. We face the abolition of quotas in 2015 and the expansion of the targets set out in the 2020 vision. Quotas were first introduced in 1984. During the past 25 years the dairy industry has worked and has tried to develop within this framework and within the constraints of the quotas. The dairy industry has rationalised at farm gate and at processor levels. However, it is now at a crossroads. In the period between now and 2015 serious issues will arise for dairy farmers in respect of staying within allocated milk quotas. This must be examined at a European level.

There must be a soft landing for the dairy industry. We barely escaped the super-levy regime for milk quotas on 31 March this year. Given the machinery in place in the dairy industry at the moment, especially at farm gate level, and the number of dairy cattle coming on stream serious issues will arise. Farmers are trying to adjust but it is remarkably difficult. Negotiations have taken place at Europe level. There should be a Europe-wide quota, not simply national, farmer or co-operative quotas. I realise the Department is examining this matter but I insist on the need to ensure capacity in the dairy industry now, in May 2011, and to ensure future capacity as well.

Let us consider the statistics. One in every ten gallons of milk consumed in the world is produced in Ireland. We have a significant product which goes throughout the globe and which is exported to all parts. The dairy industry and processors should be commended on this. A report written in 1990 recommended the need for only three processors in the country to ensure the dairy industry was properly serviced. I disagree with that fundamentally. Were there only three processors there would be a monopoly. We saw what this did to the beef industry in recent years when competition was taken out of the market and we did not ensure that the proper price was paid at the farm gate for those working the hardest to provide the industry.

Let us consider the beef industry. The Food Harvest 2020 report stated the need to expand the industry. There is also a need to ensure ready-made markets. For too long during the past 15 years, especially since the BSE crisis in 1996, there have been significant fluctuations year on year in the price farmers received for beef and in the value they have received. I recall the difficulties last year whereby our nearest neighbour received between €150 and €200 per head of cattle. We must examine the whole industry and ensure a vibrant industry. The difficulty in many peripheral regions is that the beef industry, especially the suckler industry, has replaced the dairy industry. We must ensure the industry is examined in a serious way, that targets are met, that value for money is attained and that the price given to the farmer at the farm gate is realistic and acceptable.

I have met several hill sheep farmer groups, organisations and individuals in recent weeks. Although there is buoyancy in the market at the moment they raised serious concerns. Many people in remote and peripheral regions have said to us that they will be the last generation of people farming in these regions. This an indictment not only of national policy but of European policy as well. People who have worked on the hills and provided an income for their families for generations have stated clearly and absolutely that because of the difficulties experienced they will be the last generation of people to farm these regions. We must examine this in a serious way.

We have seen the development of forestry in recent years and the income it has provided, through various premiums, for people who planted between 20 and 24 years ago. Now, for the first time, they are receiving a return and a price on the products they sell from thinning and so forth. We must continue to encourage this.

We acknowledge the Food Harvest 2020 report. We must acknowledge as well the great part agriculture will play to ensure an export-led economy and to ensure exports continue. It is vital that while we seek to increase the production on better lands in the country we must not ignore disadvantaged areas, including western counties and traditional areas where farming was difficult.

We have seen the dairy industry move from west to east. The co-operative society started 100 years ago in the western counties but because of development it has moved to the east. We must be mindful that any policy introduced by this Government or the European Union allows for the maintenance of the western counties. During the debate on the Finance (No. 2) Bill it was stated that when these regions are depopulated they enjoy greater tourism but there is already a vibrant economic sector in place there and we must make sure the policies we pursue will allow farming to continue in these communities.

Our future lies at the European level, with the MERCOSUR talks and Europe-wide milk quotas, but Europe did not always get agricultural policy right. There have been difficulties with its stance on the beet industry and Greencore, and the policy it pursued a few short years ago on rationalisation of that industry led to a shortage of sugar within the EU. The policy that was pursued was not correct. We must ensure that the policies accepted by the Government and Oireachtas are for the betterment of Irish agriculture and that we fight tooth and nail for it.

Any farmer in any agricultural product, be it grain, dairy, beef or sheep, will say that there is too much red tape and bureaucracy in the industry. When the inspectors arrive for cross-farm or other inspections, there is a sense that the farmer is a criminal who must then prove he has everything in order. The vast majority of Irish farmers have complied with all regulations. Farmers believe they are the custodians of the land for the next generation and have always farmed it with the environment and maintenance of the countryside in mind.

The duplication of regulations, however, gives rise to a sense that we introduce directives and then gold-plate them, instead of making them simpler. Some of the systems with the Department have proved beneficial to farmers and simple to work with but other sectors have caused huge difficulty for small to medium-sized farmers and larger farmers. Over the years, there was an overzealous aspect to inspections, with no leniency for minor infractions. There must be a common sense approach from the Department staff when they arrive on the farm and see the farmers are making genuine efforts to comply with the various regulations.

Last week, the leading farming organisation was raided under competition legislation because it was trying to protect prices for producers. Fair trade legislation is long overdue. We have seen the power of the multiples to drive their profits at all costs, with hello money, particularly when negotiating contracts with vegetable growers. Those multiples have never detailed their profits in Ireland because they have driven the amounts they pay the primary producer into the ground. It behoves all of us to ensure the fair trade legislation that has been promised for so long will be brought before the House as soon as possible. For too long this has been discussed while the farming community has been waiting for a time when multiples do not enjoy such power to drive prices down.

We are one of the largest exporters of sheep meat in the world, and 89% of beef and one in ten gallons of world milk supply are produced here. The establishment of Bord Bia and the Irish Dairy Board have been hugely successful ventures by the Government in recent years to get our produce on to the market. Kerrygold was an earlier initiative that proved hugely beneficial, and is still proving that today. There is no doubt that we produce the best quality agricultural produce in every sector. We should be proud to say that, and it was acknowledged last week. We must unashamedly say that our farmers comply with the strictest of regulations while implementing best practice in food production. We have the best product available and every ambassador for this country should signal that. We must ensure the best possible routes to market are available.

Systems have been developed over the years by the Irish Dairy Board but there is duplication because some milk processors are getting to market. There will be huge expansion of our agriculture industry in the next ten to 15 years but we must streamline and look at the way we have marketed our produce. We should incentivise this at national and European level to ensure we can sell the product.

We are basing this motion on the Harvest 2020 document produced by the former Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Brendan Smith. It is an excellent document and there is huge scope for growth in the agricultural sector. We have an outstanding product and must reduce red tape across the sector. We must fight at European level for the quota system and at the MERCOSUR talks to protect the beef industry. We must make certain farmers who live and work in peripheral regions are not the last generation of farmers in those areas, that they have a future because if we do not provide a future for those people, we will turn it into a wilderness.

We must ensure there are no monopolies. We saw what happened with the monopoly in the beef industry in the last 20 years and the consequences it had for beef farmers. We must ensure the fair trade legislation is introduced. What I consider to be the nonsense of the Competition Authority in terms of farming organisations should not be before us and we should ensure the organisations have the right to negotiate on behalf of farmers and the Bill should be introduced as soon as possible. I commend the motion to the House.

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