Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Ar an gcéad dul síos, is í seo an chéad uair dom labhairt anseo. Mar sin, ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil le muintir Chorcaigh Thiar Thuaidh as mé a sheoladh suas anseo agus deis a thabhairt dom labhairt thar a gceann. Go raibh maith agaibh.

As this is my first opportunity to address the Dáil, I wish to acknowledge the people of Cork North-West who elected me to represent them here and to speak on their behalf.

Agriculture is a cornerstone of the economy. While there are tremendous opportunities, there are also serious challenges as outlined by many of my colleagues in this debate. I wish to focus briefly on a few of them. While it is important to support farm inspections and the principle of proportionate penalties, an increasing number of complex agri-schemes are placing disproportionate penalties on farmers. It is imperative to reduce the administrative burden by simplifying the existing regulations in the mid-term CAP review.

Schemes such as the basic payment scheme and the green, low-carbon, agri-environment scheme, GLAS, must facilitate an Irish setting with a minimum bureaucracy and red tape. Bureaucracy and red tape simply serve to paralyse the farming sector and actually obscure what the scheme initially set out to do. For example, GLAS is not delivering for farmers the way the rural environment protection scheme, REPS, did previously. The Minister originally promised an average GLAS payment of approximately €5,000. Many farmers are now struggling to reach €4,400.

Other small conditions are getting in the way of these schemes. For example, a farm may have more than one national monument on site but can only claim for one. These small tripping points are reducing people's capability of using these schemes. Another issue concerns how natural heritage area, NHA, lands are not prioritised in the same way as, for example, special areas of conservation, SAC, or special protection area, SPA, lands, even though many of the same restrictions would apply to farming them.

Another example of the debilitating effect of bureaucracy is the beef genomics programme. It has been described as one of the most bureaucratic and unworkable ever announced. Many farmers have expressed deep concern about the complexity of some aspects of the scheme. The Department must ensure that the scheme is practical and simplified, so that it is accessible for farmers and they do not incur additional compliance costs. The administrative burden and the low returns from the beef genomics scheme undermine the valuable beef industry, a cornerstone of the economy which employs many people. The mid-term CAP review should be used to make this scheme a pillar of the future of the beef industry. Increased funding under the scheme should be targeted at moving towards €200 a head on the first 20 cows.

Beef farmers are really feeling the squeeze. The average beef price hovers at €4 per kilo, leaving many farmers just breaking even. There is a concern there will be further pressure in the second half of 2016 when another 50,000 to 80,000 finished cattle will hit the marts. This is largely due to the 25% fall in live exports in 2015. The opening up of external markets must be a key priority.

Farm safety must also be a focus. While every farm is a workplace, it is also a home for children and the elderly. There is a wider community on a farm than just the farmer. Unfortunately, we see too many accidents and fatalities on farms. There is good emphasis on farm safety at farmer-to-farmer discussion groups with peer support raising farm safety awareness. However, there is a cohort of others, namely, children and older people, who fall outside of this and who are not part of that discussion. They need to be involved in farm safety in the same way as the farmer. Statistics on farm safety and accidents show they tend to be the more vulnerable. They need to be involved with awareness raised in, say, primary schools and through other opportunities.

Sin iad na príomhábhair gur theastaigh uaim tarraingt aníos. Tá go leor ábhair eile go bhféadfainn labhairt fúthu. I ndáiríre, a Cheann Comhairle, d'fhéadfaimis bheith anseo an tráthnóna ar fad. Mar sin, gabhaim buíochas le muintir Chorcaigh Thiar Thuaidh as mé a sheoladh anseo chun labhairt thar a gceann. Tá mé tar éis labhairt ar chuid de na hábhair is tábhachtaí sa réimse seo agus teastaíonn uaim go ndíreoidh an tAire isteach orthu amach anseo.

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