Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is well aware that since he started his political career a number of years ago I have always supported him. I judged at the time he started out that he would be a great politician and a safe pair of hands for the future and I believe I have proved to be a good judge. We may not always agree on everything, but above all his colleagues, I have great faith and confidence in the Minister as a person of ability who is trying to do his best in a very difficult role. I will continue to support the Minister in his endeavours, as I believe he is genuine.

As the Minister would expect, I come at this issue with the view that these are dangerous times. I am aware of the Minister's view on farming and output and I hear other colleagues speak about increasing the viability of farms and production. That is all very well and it is great to speak about getting our farmers to be more productive. However, if a farmer is locked into a small farm with poor-quality land, he can only produce and do so much. All the encouragement in the world cannot get that farmer to produce more. These farmers are caught in a trap. They want to keep farming and they hope their families will take over from them in the future, although that will probably be only a part-time job for their families then. We do not want to see these people leave farming or to see these households give up their family farm.

I would like to give a genuine example of a farmer, a man who is good with regard to the pounds, shillings and pence, who has 24 cows and who set out his position to me the other day. This year, his business is running at an increased cost of €5,200. Where did these extra costs arise? They arose because he did not have enough silage of his own and had to buy silage and, as the Minister knows, a tonne of ration has never been as dear. How will the farmer make up this increased cost? He cannot make it up as it is not there to be made up. The Minister is aware of the income a holding such as this farmer's, with 24 cows, would produce. At the same time, this farmer loves his farm and wants to farm it till the day he dies. When he dies, he wants some member of his family to take over.

The Minister is in a powerful position and I understand he must cater for the big farmers and producers. However, I want him to bear in mind the need to protect these smaller farmers also, as they are very important. I do not want the future viability of small farms to be decimated under the Minister's watch. I know he does not want that to happen, but he must bear it in mind in the negotiations. It is very easy for the Minister to visit us in Kerry from his constituency and provide an optimistic overview of what he perceives will happen in the future. I appreciate that when he is in Europe and other countries and everybody there is pulling at him, he is in a tough position, but he is capable enough to deal with that. However, I want him to remember these small farmers when he is there, because they have been the backbone of Ireland and have kept the country going through bad and good times. I hope they will be allowed to continue.

On the issue of evening out payments, these farmers have already lost a lot. For example, the €80 suckler cow payment used be the bit of a boost these people desperately needed. The old €40 calf payment, small and all as it was, was a good scheme. If a farmer had 20 calves, that payment provided an extra bit of money that would buy ration or pay for work to be done on the land or for diesel. We are in dangerous times because we have lost so much. When I was growing up, virtually every farmer in my community was a milk producer. Some farmers had five cows and the bigger farmers had 20 cows. A man milking 20 cows was considered a big farmer in my area. Now there are not a handful of milk producers in my community. This shows how much the situation has changed. This has brought a great change to the way of life of those farmers. Formerly, they used go to the creamery every day and shop in the local shops on their way home. This created a buzz in the community, but that has all gone. Now, where there are farmers producing milk, the lorry goes into their yards to collect it and that is it. It is all the big way or no way. I want to try to ensure that we protect the future viability of these small farmers.

Today, Teagasc sent out an e-mail requesting help from anybody with fodder to sell and asking these people to contact them because of the urgent need for fodder. Yesterday I called on the Taoiseach to introduce some sort of emergency scheme to provide fodder, because many farmers are out of silage and cannot afford to buy in fodder. Their bank accounts are overdrawn and grass is not growing and they have no prospect of leaving cows out. Farmers are going through a tough time and the past two years have been like the straw that would break the camel's back. Spring is so bad this year that if we do not get a good summer, it will be very easy talk about what cattle will be left in this country. People will not have the confidence, finance or heart to keep a large stock of animals and feed them because of the roasting or burning they have got over the past two years. The past two years have been unbelievable. One could say it has been raining these two years.

The ground has never been as badly poached and damaged. Farmers have not had a chance to roll their land properly. Some places are completely waterlogged. Good land is after getting a hammering, not to mind the type of land owned by the people I represent. As the Minister knows, most of the farms where I come from are small and the ground is predominantly poor. We are facing a tremendously torturous time. It is very difficult for farmers who are trying to send youngsters to school and teenagers to college.

The arrival in the Chamber of the Minister for Finance reminds me of the point Deputy Mattie McGrath made about banks being extremely hard on the farming community. In that context, I would like to compliment organisations such as the Kerry Group, of which I have personal knowledge. To be fair, that group is standing with the farmers by extending lines of credit to them. It appreciates that the farming community, more than any other industry in Ireland, has a track record of always paying its way.

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