Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)

I thank the Minister for his report. I confess that although I have sometimes been known to speak at length, perhaps too long, about matters, when I initially saw the Fianna Fáil motion, I was not entirely clear about the intentions. I reckoned I would speak for two minutes as a result and would not have much more to say after that. I broadly understand what the motion is getting at and I am delighted it has been put forward; I thank the Fianna Fáil Party for doing so as it has merited a good response from the Government.

I read the Government amendment this evening and if I had more time, I could have put down an amendment to that amendment. All sides could then have signed up to my amendment tomorrow morning and we would all have been happy. History will never be proven on that but there we go.

I will not rehash discussions concerning the importance of agribusiness and agriculture in Ireland. I have described agriculture as one of the few major functioning areas of the real Irish economy, with agriculture and agribusiness showing characteristics that are not present in any multinational companies nor many of the national companies or employers. Agriculture will not suddenly be whipped to Taiwan or China in order to gain increased profits for shareholders and most of the profits from the inputs to agriculture are sourced locally, which contributes to the Irish economy. All of the wages are spent locally in developing communities, and profits from output are generally held within the Irish economy. All sides would agree that it is an important industry in the country.

Despite the economic downturn, the agrifood sector appears to have weathered the storm better than others. I have no doubt that agriculture has the potential to lead this nation into economic recovery. We must look after and protect the industry as it has always been our country's backbone, which we need now more than ever. We must develop strategic plans, and I am aware that the Minister will deal with our Northern counterparts to ensure the sector, at an all-island level, can thrive and act as an economic driver while other sectors begin to recover. We must increasingly consider this all-island approach to agriculture and the agrifood industry.

Key to this is the EU Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, which supports and promotes agriculture throughout the EU. It is true that the imminent EU reforms of the CAP have the potential to make or break this valuable Irish agricultural industry. We must ensure the Government can strenuously defend the rights of Irish farmers, food producers, fishermen and consumers in drawing up new policies and maintaining payments through 2013 and beyond. I have said before and will repeat that my party will strongly support the Minister and Department responsible for agriculture for as long as they strive to achieve the ambitious targets set out in Food Harvest 2020 and the report on our fishery harbours.

Certain elements should be considered, although there is much in the Minister's statement that I welcome. The Minister can see clearly the fundamental importance of the industry for the future of the country, with the critical importance of EU support continuing. Freezing the CAP at 2013 budget levels will represent a reduction in real terms and perhaps there is scope for further debate in that regard. All of us must bear in mind that many people, particularly in the west and north west, are small farmers who held small jobs as well. In many cases those jobs are gone and overall income is well down as a result. It would be wrong for the EU to assume that the average income per capita, particularly in disadvantaged areas, would be as strong now as when the Union last assessed it. The chances are that incomes are well down and people will depend on the farm as a sole source of income aside from farm assist. There is much work to be done in this regard.

With regard to distribution among member states, there is a suggestion that objective criteria would be used to determine allocations between states for Pillar 2. I know all of us are interested in this and would like further information on the type of criteria being spoken about. We must talk to our communities in this regard. Government must be prepared for what is coming and communities should also be prepared in order to gain pole position in availing of what comes from CAP reforms. As soon as the reforms take shape, we must ensure the communities can benefit from them. We must take a pragmatic approach that can consider both pillars. Distribution within member states is key. Every state will seek the best it can get for itself, which is one of several advantages to closer collaboration with colleagues in the Six Counties.

The introduction of a green component to direct payments is potentially a dangerous issue for Irish agriculture. I know the Irish Farmers Association has serious concerns in this regard. Nevertheless, this could provide tremendous advantage as much of what farmers are already doing works towards a green agenda, although they may not label it so. They manage farmland to ensure it is ready for the next use, crop or season, working in harmony with nature to ensure the land remains as fertile as possible. That is the kind of activity that has a green element, although the EU may not always support it financially. Perhaps we should have a discussion with the EU about precisely what is meant by "greening". If it is the good management of land in order to maximise potential yield from that land, it is not something of which the IFA, the EU or farmers in general should be afraid. We must ensure that when the Minister's counterparts in the EU speak about greening, it is not simply about inserting limitations which anecdotal evidence suggests will improve the land's prospects. Good land management is in everybody's interest and that is what we should support.

We need to keep things simple and avoid creating excessive additional bureaucracy. I welcome that inclusion in the Minister's report. With regard to capping, Sinn Féin has argued for some time that there should indeed be a cap on the grants being paid. There should be scaled payments so that small and medium-sized farms get more support than large farms. Furthermore, the money from these schemes should not be used to pay businesses which have no direct involvement in agriculture. If those businesses require support, they should get it from some other fund. The Common Agricultural Policy fund should be used to maintain those who produce the food in the first place. We support capping in that regard and would support a mechanism that ensures there is fairness and equity in the distribution of the fund, whereby those who need most, get most.

I note the Minister has some reservations regarding payments to small scale farmers. There is a need to make the qualification criteria simpler and less demanding for smaller farmers or organic producers. Perhaps this will be an opportunity to open that door to a number of people in the country.

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