Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I ask that the clock be wound back.

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on the farming situation, particularly in rural areas such as those in County Kerry. As my colleagues and I understand it, rural Ireland depends on suckler farmers and hillside sheep farmers. In recent times, particularly the past two or three years, things have been getting worse for suckler farmers to the extent that they are not making ends meet. They are losing money. Suckler farmers have stated that they will cut down the number in their herds in spite of all the effort they have put in through the years because they cannot carry on. They meet all environmental standards and abide by every rule and regulation, but they are not being paid a fair price. The factories are nailing them to the cross while the retailers get away scot-free. In the past three months there was little discussion of the role of retailers as most attention was rightly focused on the factories.

We will also have to focus on the retailers. The farmers are the only ones who are still not being paid properly. We are all glad that the strike has been stood down as this is the time of year when most beef cattle go into the factories; they are fat at this time of year and have reached the 13 months. Many farmers were held up so it is good that it has been stood down for the time being but nothing has happened to the base price and I am worried that nothing will. I believe the farmers will be back at the factory gates in the not too distant future. I hope that I am wrong but I cannot see what will change. They are not even answering to the producer organisations, and if they are not doing it now after the pressure that was put on them, they will not in time.

Farmers must take all the risks, from breeding the proper calf to staying out all night to pull calves out until the calving season is over. One can see that farmers are physically in poorer condition after the calving season given the time and effort they put in. There is the cost of fertilisers and paying contractors for silage. So many people in rural communities depend on farmers, from the shopkeeper, the person with the filling station and the fellows who deliver the oil. They all live off the farmer and if the farmer goes bad, they will go bad shortly after. That is how it is now. Many farmers are under severe financial pressure. We met so many at the gates who are in trouble paying college fees for their children who had returned to college some weeks earlier. Back in 2004, when I was not long in Kerry County Council, it tabled a motion to watch the monopoly which was being created by the great supermarket bodies. The motion said they were dictating what the farmer would be paid and that they would dictate what the customer would pay. They have ensured they have a monopoly. I heard at the gates where the protests were held that Aldi and Lidl have exacerbated the price issue. The prices to the farmers are reduced all the time but we never see the price of meat on the shelves reduce. I hope that the Minister of State is listening. Regardless of what happens, when the farmer gets a bad price that is not reflected in a low price on the shelves in the Lidls or Aldis.

The farmers were looking for the abolition of the four movement rule. If a carcase is hanging, no human could say how many times that carcass had moved. That rule is wrong and should be removed. The 70-day retention period should be reduced to 21 days. That was not acceded to. The 30-month rule makes no sense at all. The farmers were asking that this would be increased to 36 months. That has not happened. They are getting nothing at all for the fifth quarter and the factories are being paid handsomely for that. They are getting at least €200 per head for the fifth quarter while the farmer gets nothing. However, it is the base price which is what the farmers are asking for. The factories must give a base price and if they do not we will be back at the gates in a very short time.

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