Tom Barry (Cork East, Fine Gael)

I call on the Minister to establish an agricultural review board within the National Asset Management Agency. The importance of agriculture to the Irish economy cannot be underestimated. While previous Governments took their finger off the pulse in respect of the importance of agriculture, we are now back to basics once again. Agricultural value added products are a key part of our exports. If treated properly and maintained over the next few years, they have the potential to grow our exports by €1 billion per annum.

However, many agribusinesses were targeted by banks. They were targeted because they had good cash flow during the boom years, but they also did not have much leveraging on their assets. The buzz phrases at the time were about diversifying portfolios and leveraging assets. However, now we know the real truth of what was going on. Many of these businesses got into property and so on because they were tied within quotas and growth restrictions within their own industry. We now have a situation where these businesses have a two-tier business model. They have a core agricultural part that is profitable, and an unprofitable property part.

Agriculture is cyclical. It has peaks and troughs. NAMA could learn some of the lessons from agriculture before it begins to dispose of its assets. Many people in agricultural communities know how to manage property over generations. Disposing of assets quickly is certainly not the way to do this. If NAMA officials think that there is a quick fix method to disposing of its property, then they are sadly mistaken.

I have heard complaints about how NAMA was dealing with its property portfolio, and it often sounded incredible. However, I was horrified to learn how it was dealing with a large piggery containing up to 30,000 pigs. NAMA froze the agreed facilities of this operation and changed its trading terms. A person who cannot feed his animals cannot sell his product and will have a welfare issue down the road. This is unbelievable. As I dug into the issue, further questions came up. I ask the Minister to consider amending section 221 of the NAMA Act to allow constructive representation from people like myself and other Members of the House. NAMA is independent of politics by legislation, and this is a terrible mistake. I also urge the Minister to consider the appointment of a Minister of State with responsibility to NAMA, because at the moment nobody seems to be responsible for what is now €70 billion of State assets. If NAMA is not taken under control, there might yet be a tribunal over it. It is too serious for there to be no control over it.

By their very nature, piggeries create indigenous employment. Everybody wants to see indigenous employment, because it is the ultimate in buying Irish. Piggeries purchase a lot of grain from our cereal industry and keep many other family farms and businesses going. They displace imports, and food imports cost €5 billion over the last few years. That is incredible. While we must increase our exports, we must also be conscious of reducing our imports to make ourselves more competitive in the longer term. If we lose our indigenous pigmeat production, we will be at the mercy of imports. If we are at the mercy of imports, we will have no control over the price inflation that will take place. Once foreign producers know that we are dependent on importing pigmeat, the price will increase. The consumer will not thank us for having a more expensive shopping basket.

We are at the end of the supply chain in Ireland and it is absolutely imperative that NAMA understands the food industry. It will have to deal with food businesses. NAMA cannot act with impunity. I urge the Minister to create a review board immediately, so that any agricultural issue that comes before NAMA is dealt with in a knowledgeable and constructive fashion.

See this speech in context