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

We are raising this matter to highlight the absolute necessity of prioritising the suckler sector with targeted supports for these farmers. They are under threat from many fronts such as Brexit and South American beef and are at the same time struggling with an average income of less than €13,000 per annum. Many are farming part time and after finishing a day's work are going back out feeding cattle and doing another day's work. Their business is in rural areas and they are supporting local employment, spending income locally in the co-op, the vet, the shop or wherever. We need to support these rural enterprises. If a farm stops, it is a rural business closing down and a loss of income for the rural community. There is a knock-on effect for so many other rural services and businesses. The whole community suffers.

The suckler is not paying and the national herd is dropping away as farmers move out of the business. Around the Macroom hinterland, for example, as many as 1,000 suckler cows are gone. The Minister will know many of the farmers who have gotten rid of the cows. On good land there may be the option of supporting dairy, contract rearing or leasing land. On the more marginal land there are not the same options and the farmer could very likely be planted. That is squeezing rural communities. If they move towards fattening from the dairy herd, that is reducing the quality of the product.

The Minister needs a scheme targeting the suckler farmer - €200 a cow. There is a significant underspend across several schemes under the 2014-2020 rural development programme, which is running behind targets. The beef genomics scheme, for example, did not get the planned take-up. Farmers felt that there was so much paperwork for a low return that it was not worth it. People are even dropping out of it and there is a 52% underspend. The Minister needs to look at the unspent funds and find ways of directing funding towards a €200 suckler cow scheme for rural communities and farmers.

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