Dáil debates

Wednesday, 17 February 2021

Covid-19 (Agriculture, Food and the Marine): Statements

 

2:50 pm

Photo of Cathal CroweCathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Many farm families are waiting with bated breath to see what new legislation will be introduced regarding the fair deal scheme. I refer to legislation to cap how much farmers and landowners in general will have to contribute to nursing homes costs. I ask the Minister to brief me, if there is time, regarding where that legislation stands now.

Turning to the proposed new rural environment protection scheme, REPS, I would like to find out more about the pilot the Minister has been talking about for some time for farmers not in GLAS.

I understand some 4,000 are farmers caught in this scenario and that the Minister is looking at a pilot scheme in maybe the late spring or early summer. Perhaps he could provide a little more detail on where that is at.

Before Christmas, a €100 million support package was announced for the agrifood industry, specifically for the meat factories. The point remains, however, and it has been made by other speakers, that beef prices continue to remain low. They have stabilised somewhat but have dropped quite a degree over recent months. The primary producer, who is the farmer, is asking why his or her price is at rock bottom when the support is being given to the meat processing plants. What more can we say to them to allay concerns about this downward trajectory of pricing?

The whole issue of rights of way is always a concern for landowners. It is a boiling issue. It is a fact that 30 November this year is the cut-off point for landowners and people who have rights of way across land to register them. It does not deal with all scenarios. I know of a number of scenarios in my county of Clare where graveyards are landlocked on someone's farm and where one must go across a gravel pathway. There is no mechanism within legislation to provide for those kinds of right of way. I have looked at initiating a Bill. This needs to be looked at between now and November to secure the right of a person to cross a farm into a burial ground.

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