Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It certainly does not come up to the mark that is required in order to satisfy demand. In addition, the underspend in this envelope last year, which reverted back to the Exchequer, shows that more could have been done earlier in regard to this particular scheme.

There has been a great deal of good news relating to the agricultural sector. 2011 was a particularly good year for farmers in terms of the weather and the fact that world prices for both meat and grain were, for various reasons, better than expected. As a result, agriculture was pointed to as a sector that was doing particularly well. When we drill down beneath the good news story, however, the reality is somewhat different. We see, for example, that for the 100,000 farmers in this country, the average income last year was just over €24,000, which was an increase of 32% on the 2010 figure. This year's poor weather and disappointing harvest - although it ultimately turned out slightly better than initially feared - mean that incomes will certainly be down. For the top one third, or some 33,000, of farmers - that is, the full-time and commercially viable farmers - the average income last year was €56,000. Meanwhile, the average beef farm income last year was €11,000, while the figure for sheep farming was €18,000.

It is clear, therefore, that we are not talking about a particularly well-off sector and that it is not particularly easy to survive as a farming family. An additional factor is that we have a situation where the percentage of farming families with off-farm income has declined from some 70% four years ago to less than 50% today. The importance of schemes such as AEOS becomes even clearer in this context, as well as the importance of ensuring there are replacement schemes in place. For many farmers, the €4,000 cap the Minister is imposing on AEOS will come directly from their bottom-line income. As such, the outcome of the Minister's negotiations with his European colleagues on CAP reform will have an even more crucial impact in the coming years.

My final point relates to the capital assets review group established by the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn. The group's recommendations may have a significant impact on potential future funding for the third level education of the children of farmers and the self-employed. Given that average farm income was €24,000 last year, the potential inclusion of capital assets would see many families no longer qualifying for a maintenance grant even though they do not have sufficient income to fund their children's college education. That issue must be addressed. I accept that the Minister, Deputy Coveney, has acknowledged the problem. However, we must ensure a positive outcome from the process, which will require a commitment from the Government as a whole.

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