Tom Barry (Cork East, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion. In order to look forward we must see where we have come from. It is important to realise that area aid was a price support when we took reductions in commodity prices. Those were the days of milk lakes and beef mountains. We are far away from that. Since those MacSharry reform days we have always had a good record of negotiating in Europe. We started off with coupled production whereby one received payment for the product. Decoupling then became the buzzword whereby in essence one got the payment regardless of production. Farmers continued to produce and issues arise in that regard currently. In order to get payments currently, the environmental impact is taken into consideration. That is all well and good but when one links the environmental input with production, the two elements tug in slightly different directions. While both are important, there is no point in having fabulous looking countryside but no production. We must be careful about where that might lead.

Price fluctuations are also a reality at the moment. While 2011 has been a great year in most sectors bar the pig industry, we should bear in mind that in 2010 and 2009 most people were barely able to keep going. The single farm payment comprised a major part of their income.

I attended a meeting this evening which the Minister had attended previously concerning Beet Ireland. The group has put together an impressive feasibility study showing that we possibly have a future in commercial sugar production. I commend the Minister for giving his time to those involved. Sugar production is part of the Common Agricultural Policy negotiations. Last week, it was announced that the sugar quota could come to an end in 2016. Sugar is also a vital part of the food economy in the future.

We had cheap money and we have cheap food, but that may not always be the case. While China has 8% of the world's land mass and 20% of the world's population, there will be a demand for food.

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