Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing my time with Deputies Carol Nolan and Martin Ferris.

I acknowledge the motion tabled. It is a good one and we will certainly be supporting it. This is because there is no doubt that tillage farmers had a bad year due to the weather in many parts of the country. Between June and September, there were not three dry days in a row anywhere in the west. The bad year has had a huge effect. In addition, there is a crisis over the drop in the prices of grain. Import costs are rising and leaving us with poor margins in many parts of the country. It is a matter of great importance in this country that the family farm survive. It is the bedrock on which our society has been built. Even urban dwellers, or "townies" born and bred, can usually go back only a few generations before finding their farming roots. The income crisis and the financial hardship which is becoming the norm over recent years mean that the younger generation of farmers is less interested in making farming its life's work.

Every sector of farming has had a disastrous year within the recent past. Dairy farmers were on the edge - some still are - when quotas were removed. Beef farmers are deserting the sector by the new time, for the same reason. A bad year generally for tillage was exacerbated by dreadful weather in many parts of the west. There was despair among farmers on watching their grain crops lodging or experiencing such an amount of rain that harvesting was impossible. It could be said that if one drew a line from Cork to Derry, one would note that everything west of it was lost. In these circumstances, we have to be able to step in and ensure farmers do not go under. That is the responsibility of the Government as a matter of last resort. These are circumstances requiring action of last resort so the Government must step in and take action. The safety nets must be built into our systems and policies if we are to protect Irish farming against the ravages of globalisation. A first step in this direction, of course, would be to reject TTIP and CETA, but that is not what we are about tonight. Tillage must be protected. We all remember too well what happened with the sugar beet sector. If we go down the slippery slope, that is where tillage will end up in this country also.

With regard to the future of Irish farming, there must be some political will, a strategy and an agreement allowing the Irish farmer, coming from a small country and depending on international markets, to enter the farming profession with some confidence that the Government will support farming in both good and bad times, but particularly when disaster strikes. It is not as simple as saying that any business or profession is subject to market forces and other circumstances which cannot be totally controlled or determined by hard work and good planning. Farming is always vulnerable to force majeurecircumstances and the whims of mother nature, and there is always a possibility of complete crop loss, particularly with tillage. There are tillage farmers in deep crisis now and they need some help. Some of them are renting land in order to grow their crops and they find themselves in dire straits.

Sinn Féin, in its budget submission earlier this year, made provision for a fund to be set aside because it recognised the tillage farming crisis was coming up. The Government amendment to this motion suggests that tillage farmers could avail of the low-interest loans that are being made available, but this is not enough for those in serious trouble right now. The loan scheme has practically used up the provision associated with the de minimisregulation, and the Minister's assurances that he will examine the prospect of ring-fencing some funding for tillage farmers when the loan scheme is over means it will simply be too little too late.

Moreover, how will the Department know, by the time the loan scheme is over, who the farmers were who suffered real crop failure in the autumn of 2016? The only way it will know will be by looking around to see who has gone under. That is not the way to progress. The affected farmers are all victims of a wet autumn and rising fertiliser prices.

This motion calls for the suspension of tariffs from fertiliser imports from outside the EU. This needs to be dealt with urgently. Irish agriculture, now more than at any other time, needs the full backing of the Government. This measure, as proposed, is a low-cost measure, worth under €5 million, but it represents a pragmatic approach to a crisis which could not have been avoided. Nobody is saying the farmer could have done anything differently. It is nature that has put us in this position. The Government needs to step in.

Irish farming has Brexit to deal with and the Government must be proactive on this issue. It is difficult to know, even after yesterday's speech from Prime Minister May, what the British Government has in mind in reality for farming in the North or in regard to the effect it will have on us here in the South. We have to find out what is in store in so far as we can. The Minister and his officials must be seeking information and trying to influence the practical results of Brexit for cross-Border trade and co-operation in agriculture. The reality is that our agriculture sector has, for some considerable time, been in crisis. Irish grain farmers need the support of the Government. We are talking about a small number who are in absolute crisis. Many are present this evening. They are not here because the proposed measure is something they are hoping for; it is something they are depending on. In this regard, I humbly ask the Minister to step up to the mark and ensure these farmers are not let down.

I spoke to the Minster last year about the impending crisis in the west. He said he would deal with it if anyone was in circumstances in which he was able to feed his cattle. The tillage farmers are farmers who have lost their crops. The Minister simply must deal with it. I appeal to him to find the money, put it to one side and ensure the affected farmers are looked after.

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