Dáil debates

Tuesday, 22 March 2016

Agriculture and Fisheries Council Meeting: Statements

 

2:50 pm

Photo of Martin HeydonMartin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is my first time to speak in the House since the Ceann Comhairle assumed his new position. As a constituency colleague, I wish him well in his new role.

I would like to touch on a couple of the contributions made earlier. In response to the Sinn Féin representative who referred to the relationship with the banks, it is important to put on the record that the Minister has had numerous meetings with the banks. The banks are a key part of the dairy forum, which regularly discusses the pressure on farmers and solutions to ease the short-term pressures. Only recently Glanbia, Rabo Bank and Finance Ireland launched a new partnership approach which allows for repayment plans to be linked directly to the price per litre of milk, which is a sensible approach in these difficult times.

Deputy Clare Daly has a frightening perspective on the world. She would turn us all into vegetarians, return us to famine times where we are dependent on the potato and then take all of our good agricultural land and plant trees on it, which, personally, I think is unethical never mind ludicrous. The Deputy failed in her contribution to acknowledge that our grass-based system is one of the most environmentally friendly in the world.

On the EU agricultural Ministers meeting, I have concerns about the voluntary supply control measures permitting producer organisations and co-operatives to compensate their suppliers for reductions in supply. At home in south Kildare, I am surrounded by neighbours who have invested massively in their dairy farms to ramp up supply in this post-quota era. Commodity prices are cyclical. Notwithstanding the sustained period of low prices, they will rise again. Farmers must be able to make money on the up-swing when prices increase. It is vital that voluntary supply control measures remain voluntary and that there is no row back on quota times.

I would like to speak a little about the Glanbia plant in Ballitore in south Kildare. Ballitore is a small rural village with a population of 685 people. The Glanbia plant in Ballitore employs 250 people. Only last week the company held a jobs fair and is currently taking on an additional 25 people because for the first time, it will produce bottles at the plant. This is an example of the impact expansion in the dairy sector has on rural Ireland and rural Ireland life. For this reason, it is crucial there are no barriers to expansion. The difficulties being experienced are not only in the dairy and pigmeat sector - the tillage sector has also experienced three very difficult years. As a mixed enterprise farmer, I know that the Teagasc cereal crop margin calculator is not pleasant reading as it does not allow for a person with conacre. The removal of import tariffs on fertiliser in the EU is crucial to a reduction in costs. We also need to strive to ensure the availability of cheaper finance, including by allowing provision by the European Investment Bank of low interest rate loans to tillage farmers. Also, aid to a private storage scheme for barley would provide some short-term relief. These three measures, in particular, are desperately needed if our tillage sector is to be progressed. I know the Minister, Deputy Coveney, will in Europe strive to achieve them.

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