Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion and I thank Deputy McConalogue for bringing it forward. Suckler cow numbers nationwide have declined by 4% according to official statistics from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. This comes on the back of vast expansion in the country's dairy sector, particularly after the removal of milk quotas in 2015, since when the dairy herd has increased by 35%. In Clare the suckler sector is very important, with 70,000 suckler cows compared to 30,000 dairy cows because the land in the west is more suited to the suckler system of farming.

Supporting our farming community is essential to the sustainability of our rural towns and villages and maintaining the fabric of rural society. To keep suckler farmers sustainable and viable, there needs to be a targeted payments system, particularly for Clare farmers, who are dependent on the suckler trade. This targeted payment system should be there to support suckler farmers. The cost of maintaining a suckler cow is almost the same as the price one gets for selling the calf at the age of nine to 12 months. As there is very little money in the sector, supports are needed. The motion calls for a targeted payment of €200 per head, which is in keeping with what the farming organisations are calling for.

Some 5% of our beef production is for home consumption, 50% is for export to the UK market and the remainder is sold around the world to both EU and non-EU countries, in particular live exports to Turkey. Beef farming is also a major employer and it needs to be supported because it is a very important part of the rural Irish economy. The beef sector faces two major challenges. The first is Brexit, which threatens to be the most important challenge because there will be difficulties exporting beef into the UK if tariffs are put on Irish exports. Second, there will reduced CAP payments of up to 30% due to the loss of payments from the UK. Additionally, the Mercosur trade agreement threatens to flood the European market with cheap and lower quality beef. Europe wants to sell goods into the Mercosur trading area, which has some 260 million people, and in return we will be expected to accept South American beef. We need to keep that to the absolute minimum if we do accept Mercosur beef. We must also consider how farming is going to deal with meeting the climate change targets which are coming down the road.

We have to prepare our farming community for these eventualities. Targeted payments are key, as well as supporting CAP payments. We must plan to support our family farming communities.

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