Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The reality is that we do not say the market should dictate to the consumer because we realise that if were to do so, the very powerful interests would manipulate consumers and they would lose out. We have a significant amount of international and national law to ensure consumers cannot be abused. The ordinary farmer is the other weakest player. A producer group is a step in the right direction but a very small one. It is a little naïve to expect such a group to solve the problem. It is important for the Government to set out a framework in which the market can operate, and that through legislation both in this country and the European Union we would ensure a level playing pitch for all players. If the Minister believes that is already the case then he should talk to a liquid milk producer, a vegetable producer, a potato grower, a horticultural producer, a strawberry grower or beef farmer.

The Government has abandoned its role as the custodian of a fair market. It has left farmers exposed to the power of processors and massive supermarkets who call the shots. The single farmer does not stand a chance against multinational companies who have revenues that rival the revenue of small countries. Some supermarkets are even bigger in power than some of the smaller countries and transnational in character.

The Minister should have stepped in to intervene at the beginning of his Ministry. He knew he would play a pivotal role in the European negotiations and he should have stood up for ordinary farmers across Europe. To put it mildly; the Minister has shrunk from the challenge. When we were discussing the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, I kept asking the Minister what he was doing about price. The issue is fundamentally European as well as national as farmers across Europe are affected. Given the reducing subsidies provided by the new CAP, price should have been a cornerstone of discussions.

It is interesting to examine EU law. Article 39 of the Lisbon treaty sets out the objective of securing "a fair standard of living" for farmers. It is an integral part of EU agricultural policy. Given the multinational composition of large supermarkets and processors in the interconnected agrifood market on the Continent, it is vital that a joined-up EU approach is taken. Whether in the dairy, beef or vegetable sector, farmers can be left vulnerable to big supermarkets manipulating prices. It is important that the European Union would take the lead in achieving that across the Continent.

The successful passage of EU Agriculture Commissioner designate, Phil Hogan, through scrutiny in the European Parliament last week moves him closer to taking up the position in the coming weeks. The Minister must work closely with him to achieve a strong, fair market framework in Europe. The future of European agriculture is reliant upon a fair price for a good product. The success of the CAP in achieving food security and underpinning agriculture as the cornerstone of the rural economy and rural communities is reliant upon a fair price return. I note with concern that the Government's counter-motion fails to address the Lisbon treaty provisions.

The beef crisis is threatening the livelihood of dry stock farmers throughout Ireland. Dramatic falls in price have been caused by a combination of arbitrary specification changes by processors and artificial trade barriers with Northern Ireland and Great Britain due to the influence of supermarkets. The quality assurance scheme has been exposed as a tool for processors to artificially suppress prices. We are in favour of quality assurance but it cannot be a method by which the supermarkets and processors artificially penalise farmers for perfectly good cattle and set barriers that have no justification in terms of quality of animal or meat.

The suckler cow sector is being hammered by the fall in price, which means the backbone of the beef industry is under threat. The current crisis comes hard on the heels of the fodder crisis in 2013, which pummelled the income of dry stock farmers. Teagasc revealed that cattle-rearing farms saw incomes decline by 22% to €9,469 in 2013 due to higher production costs associated with severe fodder shortages early last year. The beef crisis is hitting an already exposed group. The crisis is having a greater impact in certain parts of the country than others. The shift in prices is driving struggling farmers over the edge, which will damage production, employment and the prospects for future growth under Food Harvest 2020.

The crisis has illustrated the grave imbalance at the heart of agriculture. Primary producers are at the mercy of a system that is immensely more powerful than they are. Large processors are eroding margins while big supermarkets are working to expand their share of the final price. The misuse of labelling and specifications to achieve that reveals the way the power is used by those who have it, to manipulate the market.

I have set out the problems at hand and the Government's responsibility to address them. They are the steps that should be followed by the Minister, Deputy Coveney, to get to the very root of the issue. It will take time to change the situation on a Europe-wide basis. I hope the Minister will convince the new Commissioner designate - I will certainly try to do so - that he should make a fair return to all farmers across the European Union, so that from the east to the west and from north to south, farmers and family farms - the cornerstone of European agriculture - will be defended.

In the meantime farmers face another hazard: as discussed during Question Time, next year will see the smallest payments over a 14 year cycle to farmers under the CAP. This will happen because, as the Minister knows, GLAS will not pay out significant money next year and REPS and AEOS payments will be minimal.

Farmers must pay bills now and we propose something very simple. There should be an introductory payment next year of €200 per head under the beef genomics scheme to bolster suckler cow income levels. This can be contrasted with the €80 proposed by the Minister.

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