Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on an important motion. I welcome the acknowledgement in the contribution of the Minister of State that the Department sees the plight of farmers across the country. The Minister of State knows my constituency very well and it suffers from a double whammy of severely disadvantaged land and a constituency based on the milk and beef sectors. From attending marts like Kilmallock, the Minister of State knows what farmers are saying. Deputy Martin Heydon is correct when he states that there is a problem when people talk about potentially leaving the industry. Representatives of farmers and individual farmers who have come to me have made clear they do not want a quick fix, an easy solution, a knee-jerk reaction or throwaway political comment about problems going away. They are not interested in point scoring and they want a long-term solution into the autumn and next year. Many of the people I have spoken to are carrying debt in the overhang from the fodder crisis. This had a devastating impact on the western seaboard where they were disproportionately affected because of the land quality. The debt hangover from last year and the inflated price of last year was combined with the collapse of the British market this year, on which we are over-reliant.

If we can learn anything from the past number a few weeks about the export market, it is that the solution must be driven by exports. There are not enough people in the country to consume enough beef. We need an export led solution. Our over-reliance on the British market has been exposed as a weakness. The challenge is to build the brand of Irish beef. People might scoff at the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine being in America while this is being discussed but there is no better time for him to be there because it proves that the Government is serious about delivering new markets for Irish farmers.

The political opportunism of some people in this House is exactly what farmers did not want to hear. These are the same people who barely mentioned agriculture in budget speeches when they were in government. They have forgotten about this and, as pointed out by Deputy James Bannon, they eroded farming schemes. I support the comments of Deputy Paul Connaughton about the need for a long-term solution that involves all stakeholders. I welcome what the Minister is doing. In acknowledging the crisis, we must be realistic and must not inflate people's expectations in the manner in which some Members are doing. It is exploiting people's vulnerability at a difficult time for many farming families.

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