Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Obviously, I support the motion. I have a number of points to raise. The north west of the country in particular has often been described as the engine room in terms of the production of weanlings for the suckler herd in Ireland. We are under threat of land abandonment in that part of the country given the low incomes of many farming families - some €13,000 a year. Without the introduction of a scheme such as that advocated by my colleagues, Deputies McConalogue and Cahill, we are heading down the road of land abandonment.

When the underspend across various schemes is considered, it is vitally important that we put the money where it is needed in order to support farming families and the great culture of beef production in this country. The industry is worth €2.5 billion in income per annum. As a former exporter who exported 35,000 cattle's worth of processed beef to 46 countries throughout the world, I know the importance of the industry and I also see the dangers of a lack of targeted supports of this nature. While as a party we are certainly advocating for a scheme of €200 a head, from a personal perspective I think there is an argument to consider even more than that and for a higher amount to be given for the first ten cows belonging to our many small farmers. That is certainly something to consider.

The money is available but we are not using it. It is critical that we come up with a scheme to ensure that we give the necessary supports. It plays into our hand in terms of European policy in respect of food security. Without it, we will see land abandonment in many parts of our country, particularly in the north west where I am from. Deputy Cahill has rightly made a point about a number of schemes in respect of sheep needing to be continued and increased. As Deputy McConalogue said, all this money is spend locally. It supports the local economy. It is not going out of the country. Finally, I would advise caution on the beef data genomics scheme. Again as a former beef exporter, I feel it needs to be examined for fear that it will create a substantially maternal herd, which would affect confirmation and the quality of beef we are producing. I ask the Minister to look at that.

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