Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleagues for giving me the opportunity to speak, and I thank the Rural Independent Group for bringing this motion before the House. Anybody from a rural community will thoroughly understand that the past eight weeks have been very difficult, not just for the farmers on the picket lines but also for the staff inside the gates and for the farming families at home who let the farmers out to go to the picket lines. It was also difficult for the rural communities that did not have the investment from the sale of the stock, because that sale did not take place.

I have a number of requests to ensure we have sustainability of rural farming families and that this business continues. First is that the Minister of State's Department would encourage MII to engage with the new producer organisation, also known as the PO. There is no point in us having the licence for a PO if Meat Industry Ireland and its plants do not engage with it. It would be completely useless. We need to encourage it and explain the value of having it. If a producer organisation can quote for a price, and price was the main issue that could not be discussed at any of the talks the last time, then this vehicle could be a lifeline for small farmers throughout the country. We openly acknowledge, and I personally acknowledge, the work done by the Department in ensuring that the PO was formed and that it is now on the table. It is worthless, however, unless we encourage, educate and inform the farming community of the value of it. We see the value of such a measure across Europe but we should now see its value here on our Irish soil. We should work to ensure that farmers can have value in their produce and value through the price chain, because this is what they want and it is the area in which they feel they have not had fairness.

My second request is around transparency, an issue that my good colleague Deputy Michael Moynihan, addressed earlier. I refer to transparency within the factory, with the grid and around the calibration of the weighing scales. Farmers do not trust that system. Trust has left that arena for farmers with the industry. This is very unfortunate and it needs to be re-established. The trust needs to be brought back. We need to centre trust, loyalty and respect. It is a two-way street. For far too long the factories have taken away that trust. It has been lost. No matter how much can be done at this time, we have to help rebuild that trust. The best way to do this is through the task force sitting regularly, perhaps a minimum of every two weeks. If the Minister of State does nothing else this week within the Department he could give us a start date for the first task force review. Let us set out the agenda and see who is the independent chairman. Let us bring in the farming organisations and all the other people and companies who are involved.

For the last number of weeks, Bord Bia has taken an incredibly hard battering. We need to re-establish confidence in it, taking into account the worldwide interest in our primary product, namely, Irish beef. We export 90% of our beef. Confidence in that market needs to be re-established. In terms of new markets and the possible onslaught of Brexit, we need to restore that confidence. This can only be done through transparency within the sector. We need transparency throughout the system, from the arrival of cattle in the back of lorries at the factories, the weighing process and so on. Transparency was one of the issues discussed at the first round of talks which took place within the farming organisations. We need to refocus our efforts in this area.

Family farms and local communities depend on this business. I come from a county which has the largest suckler herd in the country. My county is totally and utterly dependent on it. Galway needs the suckler farmer and the beef farmer. We need to ensure there is longevity in those areas. People who stood on the picket line did so because they wanted to ensure a future for their children and grandchildren, that they would have the values of growing up with what their predecessors had. They do not want to see everybody moving to the cities or emigrating. They want to retain an ethos and a value within rural Ireland. They want to ensure that their local post offices, Garda stations, schools and communities will survive. As stated by those on the picket line in Athleague and at Liffey Meats in Ballinasloe, they do not want to see the gate going up at the Shannon or for the west of Ireland to become the playground for the east. They feel very strongly about that. We want those on the benches opposite to come forward with a date for the review task force.

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