Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I am not quite clear on what the Deputy is asking. He is correct that there will be price volatility in the future. The price trends for food will continue to increase for dairy and meat products, but there will be dips at times which will cause problems. While farmers are doing well in the marketplace, we should be mindful that the average farm income is still relatively modest by any standard. Direct single farm payments as well as Pillar 2 rural development moneys form a very significant part of the income of farm families. Drastically changing that balance overnight, as would be the case if we were to implement the proposals from the Commission, would significantly unbalance Irish agriculture.

It is up to me to make a very persuasive case with all the necessary data to back it up. We are gathering that data to try to get the flexibility we need from the Commission. We can go some of the way with it in terms of rebalancing payments within Ireland, but we certainly cannot go as far as is being proposed without there being a very significant redistribution of money, which would undermine many farming practices. There is a better way of doing it which I hope the Commission will take on board. When the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development came to Ireland, we spent a long time talking about this issue to ensure he understood the full consequences for Ireland of pursuing the policy he was advocating.

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