Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The budget was a tremendous source of disappointment to many in the farming sector and many farming organisations. There were realistic and genuine expectations that something would happen in this budget. There was a belief that there was political will across all parties and a willingness on behalf of the Government to introduce measures to help to equip farmers to deal with income volatility. There have been some measures in recent years. Income averaging, in particular, has been some help to farmers in this regard. However, it has flaws and additional tools are required.

Over the past two or three years, incomes in the dairy sector have varied greatly from one year to the next. Last year, as the Minister is well aware, given that the Minister of State, Deputy D'Arcy, has a background in dairy farming, dairy incomes were on the floor and people were under significant pressure. This year, dairy incomes are likely to be much higher and it has been a good year. We do not know what next year will hold. That can hold across various sectors of agriculture, in particular the dairy sector over the past two or three years.

In order to assist farmers, it is important that the tax code and Government policy work to try to mitigate against peaks and troughs. It is something we will consider as part of the next CAP programme in terms of how European policy can help to address the issue and provide a greater suite of tools to assist farmers. At national level, we need a greater range of tools within the tax code and the way income is dealt with.

Several farming organisations, including the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, ICMSA, and the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society, ICOS, put forward very reasonable and clear proposals. It is exceptionally disappointing that they were not adopted and progressed by the Minister in the budget. The amendment asks that within the next three months the Minister conduct a report into the viability and various advantages of the different proposals which were put to him and that we then set settle on introducing measures which would assist farmers and provide them with new options.

I ask the Minister to accept the amendment and give an explanation as to why, for the second year in a row, the Government balked at this idea when it came to the crunch. There were very real expectations in the previous year that something would be done and certain expectations were heightened this year that consideration had been given to the proposals on the table. It was hoped that action would be taken and something real would happen as a result.

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