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

The difficulty is that the Minister has previously stated categorically that this issue was an EU one. He said the EU Commission had stated that there was an issue with applicants commencing their agricultural education on a date after that on which they submitted the application for the national reserve and that they were excluded from the scheme if they had not commenced it beforehand. Up to now, the Minister and those in his Department have blamed entirely the EU for the situation, but the EU is not and has never been the problem. The Minister is now admitting that the EU is not behind it but the direct payments advisory committee which has agreed it in the past. The truth is that the Department, if it wanted to, could change these rules. It could make this flexible and accessible and offer opportunity to young farmers. If the agriculture sector is going to go anywhere in this country, there must be opportunity for young farmers to enter it. We all agree that that is the reality. Rather than being angry, most people are disappointed to see that our Department and Government are finding ways to block and stop farmers. That needs to change. We need to find a way to ensure that we create the maximum amount of opportunity for farmers to complete the green cert so that they can move forward.

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