The following motion was moved by Deputy Eamon Ó Cuív on Tuesday, 9 October 2012:That Dáil Éireann:- acknowledges the central role that agriculture plays at the heart of rural life and as the engine of the economy of rural Ireland; - recognises the vital need for clear decisive actions to be taken by the Government to support the agrifood industry which generates 300,000 jobs and contributes €24 billion to the Irish economy; - notes the critical role that the Rural Environment Protection Scheme, REPS, Agri-Environment Options Scheme, AEOS, and the Disadvantaged Area Scheme, DAS, payments play in maintaining farmers’ income and ensuring that agriculture provides a viable livelihood for active farmers; - fully accepts the impact that rising fuel costs has on hauliers, agricultural contractors and, in turn, on farmers’ basic costs; - further notes the changes that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has implemented in the DAS through new retrospective minimum stocking ratio requirements, a cutback that has had a direct negative impact upon farmers; - observes that the new AEOS opened by the Minister caps the maximum payment at €4,000 and only has 6,000 places, despite the fact that 13,000 farmers came off REPS 3 in 2011; - calls on the Minister to expand the new AEOS to encompass a €5,000 maximum payment and 8,000 places in order to accommodate demand and minimise the impact of the financial transition from REPS 3; - further calls on the Minister to rescind the minimum stocking density ratio changes he has introduced in the DAS; - and exhorts the Government to tackle rising diesel prices and introduce an effective essential user rebate scheme that will alleviate the rising pressure on hauliers, agricultural contractors and reduce costs on farmers.

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