Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In the majority of cases it will be smaller farmers who will fall into this category. I do not say it is small farmers exclusively. We can agree on that. A farmer who sells an animal for €100 is currently entitled to €5.20 on top of that under the VAT rules but the Government wants to reduce that to €4.80. It is not a fair tax. Let us be clear. The Government is bringing forward this resolution without hiding the fact that it will yield €21 million. Therefore, the question is where the €21 million will come from. It will come from the farming sector. I do not know what else will be included when we see the finer details on the various cuts in the agriculture sector but we know from the latest report on agricultural incomes that they have dropped. Such issues are important to farmers, in particular in areas such as the west and in Donegal which I represent and which has huge levels of disadvantaged land. A grab of €21 million is not something the Government should consider at this point. Many farmers will be keen to see what measures will be in place to help them in order that we can ensure food security throughout the world and that small farmers remain in business in the future. Sinn Féin will vote against the three measures.

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