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

I welcome the opportunity to speak to the motion which was brought forward by Deputy Charlie McConalogue. The element on which Deputies have been focusing is the suckler cow sector, as well as where the suckler cow scheme is at and how we move forward.

Many farmers have found the BDGP very useful. There are approximately 25,000 farmers participating in the scheme, but we know that there are three times that number of suckler cow farmers. In that respect, there has been quite a low uptake. While €125 million has been spent in the first three years, it is only two thirds of the spend envisaged. I acknowledge that there is a plea made in the motion for a review and the Minister to state what is going to happen in the future. I expect what we will hear is that the money will be drawn down over a period, that after 2020 there will be money left over and that there is always this type of roll-over. That is what we always hear. The problem is that farmers in suckler cow areas which are mainly along the western seaboard have an average herd of approximately 18 cows. Many of them are in my constituency. The reality is that they are struggling to survive because every year a cow calves and the calf is reared as a weanling. The farmer then goes to the mart and it is pot luck whether he or she will get a decent price. Sometimes it works out well and sometimes it does not. Even in the years farmers achieve a good price, they are still the farmers with the lowest incomes in the farming sector. They have few options beyond pursuing this type of farming on the marginal land they own. As most of them are smallholders, engaging in dairying is not an option. The land is not really good enough for them to do so. The viable options involve rearing sheep or suckler cows and engaging in forestry. The reality is that these options are not very good.

These farmers provide a service for the excellent beef sector because they are the root from which it grows. The quality of weanlings produced is excellent and there should be some recognition of this. On the figure of €200 mentioned by Deputy Pat Deering, we can all do the sums. There are 1 million suckler cows. If €200 was to be paid for 500,000 of them, it would work out as €100 million per year. We know that there is a cost, but at this stage, if we are serious about protecting the sector, we have to try to find that money. There is an argument to be made for increasing it even further and front-loading some of the money for smaller farmers who are producing great weanlings.

Other issues are raised in the motion. I particularly want to talk about Mercosur. The deal will have a huge impact on the beef sector in Ireland. If prime cuts of beef come into Europe from Latin America, at the levels being discussed or perhaps higher, it will have a very negative impact on the beef sector here. That negative impact, coupled with the effects of Brexit, will mean serious trouble which will feed all the way back to the suckler cow sector.

The reality is that there is a problem with the intensification of farming. This and other Governments for as long as we can remember have encouraged farmers to produce more in order to achieve the same income. I know men who have been farming for 40 years who tell me that their income is lower now than it was 30 years ago when they had less cattle. They now have less income in doing the same amount of work. We will soon end up in a situation where more and more small family farms will go to the wall. I do not believe that should be allowed to happen. The farming community does not just provide a service for the beef sector which is a big employer in the country but also for the entire community. We need to understand carbon sequestration is part of what we are doing. It is part of from where our green and clean image as a meat and food producing country comes. It comes from the family farm which must be protected and the only way it can be protected is if the Government steps up to the mark and provides for it.

Other schemes mentioned include GLAS, the BDGP, the knowledge transfer scheme, TAMs and the new sheep scheme, all of which provide a little hope for farmers.

Unfortunately, for very many of them, that hope is waning constantly because they see that the level of return they get for the actual food they produce is being squeezed. That is something that must be recognised.

We had representatives of the meat industry before the committee yesterday and we asked them why Irish farmers were getting only an average price in the factory compared to farmers in the rest of Europe when the cattle in many parts of Europe are produced in a totally different way. We have the cream of the crop, yet we get only an average price. Those questions have to be put strongly to the entire sector. We need to recognise that it is not all about the cheque in the post. That said, the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, budget has to be maintained. We have to ensure that we have an adequate budget to provide for farmers into the future.

I appeal to the Minister to remember that this is about the family farm. The suckler sector, and the sheep sector in particular, are crucial to this because they are the two sectors that are made up of the small family farms that are struggling to survive. They are the ones that need the most support, and they need that support as quickly as possible. I will conclude to allow my colleagues to contribute.

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