Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

-----on the issues which are very important for farmers. I realise, with all the changes taking place within farming, particularly for young farmers who have large investments and big commitments, either in terms of the acreage they own or acreage they may be leasing or renting, that there are big decisions facing family farms and farm companies. It is important that the Minister engages fully with farmers and addresses their concerns and that is what he is doing.

In regard to the changes that came into effect this year in the farming sector and future changes in terms of how these issues are dealt with, anybody who reads the farming press in detail will know how complex an area this is. When Deputy Cowen and I were campaigning in the Carlow-Kilkenny by-election this was certainly an issue farmers wanted to talk about. As I said, it is an important issue. The Government is engaging with the farmers and, in particular, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, is meeting farmers. The Minister of State, Deputy Phelan, is focussing, in particular, on rural communities, on which these changes will also impact.

If Deputy Cowen has proposals around more detailed consultation processes I am sure the Minister, Deputy Coveney, will be happy to look at them. As Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, has always been available to the farming sector. He continues to engage with small and large groups of farmers and with farmers on an individual basis. As Deputy Cowen is aware, because of his continued dialogue with the IFA and other farm organisations on a range of issues there is a strong social partnership between the farming community, the farming organisations and the Government.

If the Deputy has proposals he would like to make, let us hear them.

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