Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

With no ill respect to the Minister of State, Deputy Tom Hayes, I think it unfortunate that the senior Minister would not take this matter. It is a very serious issue for hill farmers and has a very serious effect on the rural development programme. His lack of engagement with it to date and his lack of presence here is typical of his lack of engagement on so many other issues in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. It seems to be a Department that is driving itself, a bit like the new Google cars. The Minister needs to get the finger out and take more control of his Department. It is unfair that he puts the Minister of State, Deputy Hayes, out for all of these issues.

This issue is extremely complex and it is causing extreme anger and dissension among hill farmers the length and breadth of this country. The notion that entry into the new environmental protection scheme, GLAS, will require a 50% agreement on commonage is absolutely bizarre, completely unworkable and shows that, within the Department, there is a lack of understanding among senior officials of what a commonage is. It is discriminatory against hill farmers because other farmers have far fewer pre-qualifying conditions. With a little cop-on and a little sense, it can be resolved but, instead, the Department has been digging in its heels and is refusing to negotiate around the 50% collective agreement, which, as the Minister of State knows, given he knows what farming is, is practically impossible to achieve.

There is an irony in that hill farmers, who have for many generations been the custodians and carers of our mountains and hills - those mountains and hills we are using to bring in tourists - will be prevented from participating in a new environmental scheme because of this extreme requirement.

What we are looking for is a modicum of cop-on, a modicum of interest from the senior Minister in the Department to resolve this issue without further delay and for him to say to the hill farmers of Ireland that they are part of his vision for agriculture and where he sees the farming industry going because they play a major part, but they are being excluded from every negotiation and the talk about this. There is no hill farmer representative on the commonage agreement committee established under the chairmanship of Mr. Joe Healy and no voice from the hills representing those being discussed by the committee. Again, this is an indication of a Minister who is running his Department with a remote control.

The Minister of State is practical and, unlike the Minister, gets his hands dirty on a farm every so often. I ask him to bring a degree of understanding of the seriousness of this problem to the Department. I ask him to say to the Taoiseach who has a rolling protest outside his office to try to get him to understand the problems such that the Department will listen and be aware of the concerns of farmers. I am not someone who engages in hyperbole, but we are on the verge of going back to where we were 20 years ago when there were disputes about issues such as rod licences. The Government will see neighbour pitched against neighbour and family against family if it continues to pursue this path. What is needed is intervention. Given that the senior Minister will not take on the issue, perhaps the Minister of State might do so, get heads around the table and knock them together. If the Department and the Minister of State show an interest, hill farmers will come to the table. Otherwise, he will not succeed in implementing the rural development programme which will have far broader and more far-reaching consequences and not just for hill farmers. The Minister of State will not succeed in protecting the hills that are so important and will ensure serious dissension across rural Ireland, something we do not want. I ask him to push up his sleeves and respect the rights of the men and women concerned who for generations have looked after this land. If they are faced with this proposal, they will be driven off it.

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