Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to take this opportunity to thank the people of Cork East for affording me the opportunity of representing them in Dáil Éireann.

I also wish Joe Healy every success in his new role as president of the IFA. His organisation has been through turmoil recently and this has been even more evident given the current crisis in agriculture. While other farm organisations have carried the mantra, it is important that the main organisation, the IFA, is functioning properly to ensure total representation for farmers. In addition, I congratulate John Coughlan who has been elected as the IFA's Munster regional chairman. He is from my area.

Almost six years ago, the then Minister for Agriculture, Deputy Brendan Smith, initiated the visionary Harvest 2020 programme which was to be the template for the future growth of the agricultural sector. It was on the back of this programme that the outgoing Government had some initial success, but their near abandonment of the programme and other failures has sent the agricultural sector back to the dark ages. This was evident in the last Government when they combined the Ministries of Agriculture and Defence, thus diluting agriculture and giving it less significance. I hope any incoming government will ensure that this Ministry when allocated will be a stand-alone one, giving it the prominence it deserves.

At last month's EU Council of Agriculture Ministers, we saw a package of support measures for the dairy and pigmeat sectors. I acknowledge that some progress has been made in this regard, but Commissioner Hogan's comments in the aftermath of a previous meeting have concerned me greatly. The commissioner suggested that EU structural reform was not on the agenda and that global farmers will have to respond to lower milk prices by reducing supply. This is something which I would not bank on myself. Increasingly, Commissioner Hogan does not sound like somebody who understands the gravity of the current crisis we have with regards milk prices, but rather like someone who is willing to see the market worsen before he will act. This is something that we can associate with the previous Government which let the problem develop into a crisis to the point where the damage is irreversible.

Many farmers who were encouraged and advised to expand their production with substantial capital outlay now find that milk prices have hit rock bottom and will continue to do so to the point where they fall below the price of production. I concur with Deputy Martin Ferris who said that on many occasions the Minister, Deputy Coveney, advocated that farmers should substantially expand milk production. We can see what is happening now, however. As recently as last week, a senior ICMSA officer criticised the outgoing Minister for telling farmers to increase capital investment and expenditure. They have now been left high and dry.

Further intervention is needed to take the surplus off the floor of the market. Otherwise many farmers will face bankruptcy. I plead with the acting Minister and Commissioner Hogan to act now before this issue goes beyond the point of crisis. It is important to note that there is something of a recovery in the Chinese market with demand for dairy products steadily improving. However, the changed price point is a major difference compared to that of just a few years ago. There is an onus on any incoming government to provide certainty at a time of significant price change. There is also a responsibility to create and develop a future market for dairying by pushing for a review at EU level on price intervention tools.

It is with grave concern that we have learned over the past few weeks of reports that the EU is in discussions for an EU-Mercosur trade deal with South America. I note that some farming organisations are protesting against a TTIP deal also. This represents a serious threat to Irish farmers. Ireland exports over 90% of its beef to the EU market. Allowing South American beef into this market could see Irish prices fall by over 30% resulting in Irish farmers taking a big hit in their incomes. It is important that we lobby like-minded countries to ensure that these discussions do not undermine Irish and European beef farmers.

I welcome the opening of the Turkish market, although departmental officials have yet to resolve the issue of quantity. It is hard to expect an exporter to hold 1,000 cattle before they are shipped out of the country, so the quantity issue must be addressed.

In addition, the Irish beef market faces further uncertainty with the strong possibility of a British exit from the European Union. Ireland exported almost €1.1 billion worth of beef to the UK in 2015 and an uncertain future with our biggest export market does nothing to bring stability to the beef sector. Like many other industries, beef operates on a supply and demand trend. I can foresee many factors that have the potential to affect future demand such as the possible EU-Mercosur deal and a British exit from the European Union. A support mechanism must be put in place to ensure that these factors do not have a detrimental effect on our beef industry.

It is no secret that the pig industry has suffered a price and profitability crisis over the past year. Pig farmers remain in a difficult position, selling well below the cost of production. Private storage schemes initiated by the EU have gone some way towards bringing stability on the Continent. However, its impact is not being felt in Ireland and the pig industry does not enjoy the same EU supports as other agricultural sectors. The average pig unit of 600 sows is operating at a loss of nearly €5,000 per week, which is unsustainable.

It is welcome news that the aid money that was promised to pig farmers is now being distributed. However, the €3,000 flat payment that pig farmers are receiving does not cover losses that many of them have suffered over the past year. The formation of a pig industry forum must be a priority for any incoming Minister. The main purpose of this would be to form a clear strategy that is workable for all stakeholders in the industry.

I welcome the news from last month's EU Council of Agriculture Ministers meeting that there is a possibility that a suspension in import levies may be put in place for the importation of fertilisers. I hope the Minster may be able to elaborate further on this. Cereal and grain-growing farmers have endured, and continue to endure, high costs associated with purchasing fertilisers, making it most unattractive to continue growing grain. It is imperative that these tariffs be abolished which would reduce the costs on these fertilisers by 14% saving Irish and European farmers almost €1 billion in the process. This is one issue the Minister needs to lobby for, getting his EU counterparts on-side to support this. The informal approval of the TAMS scheme for tillage farmers has been going on too long. Stronger results are required here.

In early spring, I visited a number of grain and cereal farmers in east Cork. I saw for myself the devastation that has taken place with their winter barley crops due a salt drift created from the sea mist during the storm season. This was the same weather cycle that caused flood damage and loss of fodder to farmers during the storm season. These tillage farmers should be considered for compensation under the emergency flood damage relief measures scheme. I hope the Minister will give serious consideration to this sensitive case. I should add that many tillage farmers in the Minister's own constituency took a big hit from storm damage. The Minister has to acknowledge that it was the same weather belt that wreaked havoc on this Island.

Both the European Commission and the previous Government have abjectly failed to deal with Russia as an export market, and no effort has been made to deal with this problem. It is unacceptable that Irish farmers should take a hit for the political and economic sanctions decided by the EU against Russia. I urge Commissioner Hogan to go all out to get a reversal of the Russian ban.

Currency fluctuations are having a major impact on exports to Britain due to the weakness of sterling resulting in a 6% loss to the market in 2015. I hope an incoming government will have strong provisions in place to protect Britain as our main export market, due to the possibility of them leaving the European Union. If the UK decides to exit the EU we need to be prepared. We need to establish our priorities and engage in negotiations at the earliest possible date.

Various groups say that rural Ireland is under pressure. However, while big is beautiful, we cannot lose sight of the importance of the small family farm and the important contribution that such people make to their respective communities.

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