Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

When I hear Fianna Fáil talking about a soft landing, I must confess that it puts a shiver up my spine. I hope that Fianna Fáil's history with soft landings is not replicated in the dairy industry post quota.

When the history of the Irish agricultural sector, particularly its dairy industry, in the late 20th and early 21st centuries is written, there will be an interesting chapter on the quota regime. In the early 1980s when I began cutting my political teeth, one of the hottest topics in politics was the introduction of quotas and the carnage they inflicted on farmers who were participating in, if memory serves, the farm modernisation scheme. Bureaucracy built up and there was political and legal uncertainty. There were Mulder quotas and High Court, Supreme Court and European court rulings. In light of the figures outlined by Deputy Tom Fleming, there was carnage when economic opportunity collapsed. Prior to the introduction of quotas, there were 65,000 dairy farmers. Today, there are only 18,000.

As we face into a new dawn for the industry post quota, many have spoken about consolidating the number of dairy farmers at approximately 17,000 or 18,000, but we must be more ambitious. With the quota going, 400 or 500 new entrants are lining up and have invested significantly in recent years. The tragedy of quotas was the economic opportunity lost to the country. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, referred to an anticipated €1 billion of additional export value to the dairy industry under Food Harvest 2020. That is significant, but the industry has lost many farm families along the way. The countryside is littered with milking parlours that have been decommissioned because of this lost opportunity. We must be ambitious for the sector and maximise opportunities.

When the history is written, one of the interesting anecdotes will tell of farmers' endeavours in the environment of capped production to grow their industry. Reference has been made to the farming organisations. It was part and parcel of the work of any public representative to apply to tribunals for additional quota on behalf of dairy constituents. Some of the Minister's officials are present. I wish to pay tribute to all of the officials in the Department who gave sterling service to the industry at a time when the glue that bound policy together was quotas. With representatives from the IFA, Mr. Michael Slattery, Mr. Con Scully of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, ICMSA, and various others, we used to send out applications for additional quota. Farmers would fill them up, we would send the farmers to talk with people, we would talk to the Minister and we would try to secure 1,000, 1,500 or 2,000 gallons here, there and everywhere. It is a credit to the ingenuity and endurance of those involved in the dairy industry at the farm gate that, in such a difficult environment, they grew that industry by hook or by crook and through lease, purchase and every other policy instrument available to them. Their commitment to investing in it puts those who have survived to this juncture on a par with business people in any sector.

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