Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom cúpla focal rá ar an rud sin. After attending the previous European Council meeting in December, the Taoiseach stated in the House that he had set out Ireland's position on long-established, well-functioning and successful policies such as the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, and had made clear that those policies needed to continue to be properly funded. At the European Council meeting in February, he clearly outlined that Ireland was willing to contribute more to the budget over the next seven years. This cannot be done. It means that payments to Irish farmers and important regional and social development programmes, such as INTERREG, will be cut. That is obvious. We now know that despite the Taoiseach's efforts, the Council members essentially rejected Ireland's position, leaving farmers and the agricultural community here with deep concern regarding what cuts to CAP funding will mean. It was reported after the February meeting that Chancellor Angela Merkel had said that the differences were "still too great to reach an agreement" and "we are going to have to return to the subject of the budget" during discussions on the multi-annual financial framework, which is meant to be operational from next year. This is simply unacceptable to Ireland.

As the Government knows, Irish farmers are heavily dependent on EU subsidies, with 56% of average family income coming from direct payments from CAP funds. The CAP also has a significant social reach, not just here but right across the EU. Some 11 million farmers and 22 million other people work regularly in the agriculture sector in the EU. In Ireland, agriculture is the most important indigenous sector. Some 167,500 people are employed in the agrifood sector, while food and drink exports are valued at €12.6 billion annually. That is massive and important. Anything undermining the stability of these sectors will, therefore, have a major knock-on effect.

We have to remember that the proposed cuts to CAP, which appear increasingly likely, will take place in a financial environment that has already seen farmers enduring life-changing cuts to income. We saw the protests during the summer, which were the result of pure desperation. Farmers cannot survive. Having spoken to my colleagues in the Rural Independent Group, it seems people do not understand or believe that point. The sad reality, however, is that small to medium family farms cannot survive. Farmers are leaving the land and their farms are being gobbled up by vulture funds and conglomerates. The ongoing instability and chaos in the beef and suckler sectors are just two issues. We also have the recent bad weather and problems caused by flooding. It is infuriating for farmers to hear talk of how EU budget negotiations often come down to a battle between the net payer countries, represented this time by the "frugal five" of Austria, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden, and net recipient countries such as Ireland.

Ireland was far from frugal when it came to putting up billions of euro for the so-called bailout after the European banking fiasco. I called it a clean-out at the time because that was what it was. We were fleeced. We lavished money into EU coffers to maintain stability, while our own people emigrated in their tens of thousands and tens of thousands more lost their jobs, homes and livelihood. This is not a matter of Ireland not being willing to play its part. We have always played a constructive role in Europe, even when it was against our better interests to do so. We need the next European Council meeting to resolve this matter in a fair and proportionate manner and in such a way that the integrity of Irish agriculture can be protected. That is the least Europe can do for us.

I am very concerned, as are the farming community and farming organisations. We have to up our game here. We have an interregnum at the moment. While the Taoiseach told the House an hour ago that we still have a Government, and that is correct, there is also great uncertainty. There does not seem to be any hurry or urgency in forming a Government. This is very damaging to the rural economy. I remember three recessions and it was the agricultural sector that took us out of them. We cannot go on as we are. We need a strong and coherent voice, one that has a mandate from this Dáil and the electorate. That needs to be done expeditiously. It will be four weeks on Saturday since the people voted. What is going on in here that we cannot get our act together to try to get over this situation? Self-preservation seems to be the name of the game among the bigger parties, rather than having a Government for the people. The message from the people was that we must serve the people and not be self-serving. We must do that post haste.

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