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

I thank the Technical Group for allowing me some of its speaking time on this important matter. In the more than 30 years that the quota system has been in place, Ireland has been liable to pay €170 million in fines for breaches of the quota year on year. The abolition of the quota will mean that Ireland will now for the first time be no longer liable to penalties as a result of milk production.

I wish to acknowledge, thank and compliment ordinary farmers who for so many years milked five, ten, 15 or 20 cows. These farmers worked extremely hard with few resources and little by way of sheds. I am not talking about today's large commercial farmers who all have fine new sheds. I want to remember the people who milked five, ten or 15 cows by hand in poor quality sheds. At the time, one was a big farmer if one was milking 20 cows. I want to acknowledge all of those people at this time when we are talking about the lifting of the quotas. Many of those people have gone to their eternal reward.

The Minister of State will indulge me by allowing me mention my father who gave a lifetime milking cows. Until 1997, when he got elected to the Dáil, he used to milk cows every morning and evening. I remember he would milk the cows at 6.30 a.m. At the time, he was in the health board association and many of its meetings were held in Athlone. After milking the cows in the morning he would clean himself up, jump into the car and head for Athlone. He would attend the meeting, return to Kerry and milk the cows again in the evening. He was committed to milking the cows. I wish to remember him and people like him, particularly those who are with us no longer, who milked cows and operated under a levy system that imposed penalties for being over quota. We must move on and make progress now. Unfortunately, the day of the small farmer is gone as small farms are no longer viable. People must rise to this challenge. Our farming communities will do that, in conjunction with the IFA, the ICMSA and all the farming organisations that represent them and work so hard and diligently to represent their interests and lobby governments and Ministers. I commend the Minister of State and thank him for how he has performed in his role.

With regard to what will happen when the quota ends, I cannot let this opportunity pass without highlighting that while we are talking about the abolition of quotas, this is happening at a time when we face increased competition and must make greater efficiencies. At the same time, the eligibility of farmers' land is being attacked and withdrawn. Farmers who signed up to land categorisation have seen that land which was eligible for area aid is being withdrawn from that category. The Minister of State knows this is wrong. There is an issue now in regard to "white heather". White heather grows on much of our countryside, but we are now being told that land with white heather will no longer be eligible for area aid. That is wrong. This land with white heather may not be as good as the plains of Kildare, Meath or Tipperary, but it is land that feeds sheep and cows. Unfortunately, we are now being told this land is debarred as an ineligible area.

That is ridiculous. I was very glad last Monday night to attend a meeting organised by a group of farmers from west Cork who are taking a legal challenge in the High Court. We are all putting our hands in our pockets, farmers are united in that area. We are putting €100 per farmer into a fund of €100,000 to take a High Court challenge against this because it is wrong and it is probably one of the biggest attacks on our farming community that I have ever witnessed in my lifetime.

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