Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)

I commend my party Front Bench colleague, Deputy Michael Moynihan, on bringing forward this motion. It is appropriate that Fianna Fáil has tabled its second Private Members' motion on the subject of agriculture which is so important to our economy and to the fabric and culture of our country. It also will be a key player in our economic recovery over the coming years. When the rest of the economy has been shrinking, agriculture has led the resurgence in recent years. The improved output, recovering incomes and generation of exports in the sector have been key drivers in sustaining our pressurised economy at a challenging time. Ireland's agri-food industry is the largest Irish-owned productive sector in our economy. It accounts for more than 60% of exports from Irish-owned manufacturing. Agriculture is deeply rooted in our economy, particularly in rural Ireland, which is where 38% of all households are located. One in four rural households are farm households. It is estimated that approximately 250,000 people are employed in agriculture, the agri-food industry and related service industries. This represents 20% of the workforce outside the Dublin area.

The motion before the House seeks to give priority to sustaining and developing Ireland's agriculture sector and thereby ensuring that the maximum possible number of farmers and families can make a sustainable living from the industry. Farm incomes fell by 40% between 2007 and 2009. The average farm income was €20,000 in 2007 but decreased to €12,000 within two years. In 2010, there was a significant recovery and national farm incomes were estimated to have increased by 33% on the previous year. Farming remains a low-income sector, however. The average farm income is estimated to be €16,500, or 50% of the 2010 average industrial wage. Although the outlook for producer prices remains positive in 2010, input costs are rising rapidly. Increases in feed, fertiliser and energy costs are undermining the profitability of farming.

Everyone in the farming sector is indebted to the research work conducted by Teagasc over recent years. It has done some particularly good work to monitor farm incomes. It has examined how the farming sector and farm families have fared by comparison with other sectors of the economy. The 2009 Teagasc farm income survey compared the incomes of farm families and those of private and public sector workers. In 2009, the average public sector income was just over €49,000 and the average industrial income was over €40,000. In the same year, the average farm family income across all farms was just under €12,000 and the average income of the 30% of farmers who are full-time farmers was just over €24,000. That is an indication of the difficulties experienced by farm families in recent years.

Some 20 or 30 years ago, farming could sustain, educate and provide a reasonable quality of living to families, compared to the general standard of living in the country at the time. In more recent times farm families have been under serious pressure. The number of farmers availing of the farm assist scheme, which was established in 1999, was consistently just under 8,000 from 2005 until 2008. It is estimated that it will have increased to just under 11,000 this year. The increase in that figure over the past year or two came at a time when farm incomes were recovering. It reflects what has been happening in the wider economy. The incidence of off-farm employment among farmers or their spouses had increased in the past decade but has mirrored other job loss trends in the country since 2008. The percentage of farmers and spouses with off-farm income and employment decreased from 41% in 2007 to 35% in 2009. Similarly, the percentage of farmers with a spouse with an off-farm job decreased from 58% in 2007 to 53% in 2009.

I will comment on the development of farming over the 15 years since the benchmark year of 1995. There has been a gradual decrease in the value of farming and farm incomes since that year. The average farm income in 2009, which was a particularly difficult year for farming due to the poor weather, was 48% of the average farm income in 1995. Ireland's total farm income was almost €2.5 billion in 1995, but that figure had fallen to just over €1.5 billion in 2009. In real terms, it equated to a decrease of 48% by 2009, although increased incomes meant the figure in question had improved to 64% by 2010. Last year's improvement, which was a reflection of the weather in 2010, was welcome at a time when the rest of the economy was finding things difficult.

I have spoken about where farming has come from. It has been a very demoralising time for those who have stuck with farming over the years. Farming is diminishing as a viable professional option for young families. However, there has been some cause for hope in recent years. I refer to the advent of renewable energy and renewable energy crops. The increase in the amount of land in the US and elsewhere being used to grow renewable energy crops and the worldwide improvement in prices, is an example. In the past year or so, some South American price levels were similar to those in Ireland. At one stage, the price of a kilogram of South American beef was close to what the Irish level would be, which was a big change. Historically, European beef prices have tended to be higher. Beef is a particularly big aspect of the diet of Argentinian people. I understand they consume half a pound of beef each day, on average. The equivalent figure for Irish people is a fraction of that. The Argentinian Government had to impose an export tax on Argentinian beef for a while to try to keep prices down in the domestic economy.

I have set out the background to the motion we have proposed. We are keen to ensure agriculture is prioritised over the term of this Government. The Fianna Fáil Governments of recent years were committed to agriculture. Historically, my party has tried to ensure farming has been promoted and protected. It has been keen to sustain as many farm families and jobs as possible in the countryside. I accept that Fianna Fáil is not unique in that. The promotion of agriculture has been a mainstay of what we have stood for over the years. I suggest that our national economic policy should reflect that in the years to come.

This Private Members' motion calls on the Government to prioritise a number of things during its term of office. We are asking the Government to "negotiate a Europe wide [milk] quota rather than a national quota to allow for the orderly expansion of the dairy industry in Ireland between now and the ending of milk quotas in 2015". We want the Government to "negotiate changes to the superlevy system so that the levy is only applied where the farmer, the co-op, the country and Europe has exceeded the quota". During the 2003 CAP reform process, it was decided that milk quotas would be phased out from 1 April 2015. As part of the CAP health check, the Commission proposed to increase quotas by 1% per annum from 2009 onwards. Given that Ireland came in slightly under its quota for the 2010-11 milk quota year, and in view of the increased production of the Irish dairy industry, it is only fair and rational that we push for the introduction of a European wide quota system to replace the national quota system currently in place. This would allow for the orderly expansion of the dairy industry in preparation for what will happen in 2015. Many European countries are significantly under quota whereas Irish farmers have the capacity to increase production. It does not make sense to wait until 2015 to allow our farmers to do so when spare capacity is available elsewhere in Europe.

I call on the Minister to ensure the interests of Irish agriculture, specifically the beef sector, are protected at the Mercosur negotiations. These talks pose a major threat to much of the work done in recent years to protect the beef sector from imports of South American beef which is not produced to the same standard as Irish beef. It is critical, therefore, that the Minister ensures our interests are protected at the talks. He should not be afraid to use the veto, although I hope that will not be necessary.

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