Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister needs to brief his people in respect of this matter because that which he has stated is not evident. The figures supplied are going to mislead farmers, who are of the view that the Minister's proposals are going to save them. Some of these individuals are going to be obliged to accept a 50% cut in their CAP payments. The Minister cannot accept that. Deputy Cowen is correct. We will hold the Minister to account in this Chamber when he returns with a deal. However, we genuinely wish him well. I am of the view that he has the capacity to be successful but a deal based on the figures that are in the public domain would not be worth signing up to.

The Minister must ensure that what goes to our farmers will end up at the gate of family farms. As much as I want large companies such as Kerry Group to be successful and create jobs, it must be remembered that family farms are the foundation stones upon which the Irish agriculture industry is built. Our industry is so good because it is based on the commitment of families rather than being run by huge private limited companies, PLCs, which operate by putting farm managers and workers in place.

The issue of payments is referred to in the motion. I accept that the Minister is in a tight corner in this regard. However, the manner in which he made the cuts last year was particularly unfair. The way in which the cut to disadvantaged area payments was made specifically hit farmers on the west coast-----

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