Dáil debates

Tuesday, 22 March 2016

Agriculture and Fisheries Council Meeting: Statements

 

3:00 pm

Photo of Eamon ScanlonEamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Ceann Comhairle the best in his deliberations over the next few weeks.

I am glad to have the opportunity to address a few issues in respect of farming in the north west. I come from an area in which there is not much dairying but there are beef farmers who produce top quality store cattle. I refer to the issue of nomad cattle. Cattle are being produced but because they are moved from one side of a field to the other, this can mean they move from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland and then their price is cut by €150 or €200, which is unfair. When we joined the EU, we joined as an equal member state. Every EU citizen has equal rights, except when it comes to cattle. These cattle are classed as exports but they are only being moved from one side of the road to the other. This is wrong and unfair. I plead with the Minister to address this issue, which has serious consequences for the area I come from.

With regard to GLAS, I understand 13,000 places on the scheme were intended for farmers. This number was then cut to 11,000. Many farmers spent between €450 and €500 on their applications for GLAS funding only to discover they have been refused. It is unfair to put people to that cost and to encourage them to apply for the scheme before cutting the number of places by 2,000. That needs to be addressed.

The third issue I would like to raise relates to a co-operative in my area. Deputy McLoughlin will be very much aware of it. The co-operative was established more than 100 years ago to help and support small farmers in this rural area. A product is manufactured in Achonry Creamery for the market worldwide - Connacht Gold butter. It is one of only three plants of its kind in the world. The technique used to produce the butter was established in the State. A total of 25 people are employed in the creamery and they work around the clock to produce this butter but they have discovered their jobs are being moved to Cork. These jobs are being taken from a rural area that badly needs them to sustain the area. It is unfortunate that this will happen. Is State funding being used to subsidise the plant in Cork or a plant elsewhere in the country, which has received State grants, to take jobs from another area? It is wrong that this should happen.

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