Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

"Only today, I had to decide whether to tax my car - we live in rural Ireland and there is no public transport - or heat my house. Either way, food shopping will be slim this week." That is from a letter I received from a rural Tipperary constituent last week, one of the many people for whom a reduction in public transport fees will do absolutely nothing. People must tax their car, get their NCT done and pay soaring fuel costs and a €200 contribution to the electricity bill is a fleeting benefit. That is how out of touch the Government is when it comes to responding to the real needs of people out there, particularly those in rural Ireland and the young people who have ambitions for the future. Instead, the Government wants to give them easier access to unavailable public transport and saddle them with further debts so that they can make their homes efficient.

Sinn Féin has proposed a cost of living payment which would immediately put money into the pockets of hard-pressed working families. Only yesterday evening, we called for the pending increase in the carbon tax in May to be scrapped. We suggested a range of measures that would make a real difference to people's lives. For example, in the farming community - the lifeblood of rural Ireland which Government representatives wants to see working their farms part time - the pig sector has been badly affected by Brexit. The ability to source alternative markets has been affected because of the rising transport costs. Input costs have soared while energy costs are having a real impact. The capacity of processing plants is at crisis point due to staff shortages and factory prices are falling. Since September, we have been highlighting, both North and South, that a lack of capacity within the food processing sector will result in financial hardship for farmers. The Minister should consider directing the SBCI to provide flexibility to farmers seeking to avail of Department-funded agriculture loans. The Minister met with banks but farmers have reported no change in the availability of credit. The Brexit adjustment reserve should also be used to provide direct aid to pig farmers.

Elsewhere in the farming sector, the Government's slow pace has continued with the delays in the promised establishment of the national food ombudsman or meat regulator. Farmers are also facing increasing fertiliser bills on top of everything else. That is why we have been calling on the Government to advocate at a European level for the suspension of anti-dumping tariffs on fertiliser.

These are only some of the measures that we have proposed along with our alternative budget that was designed with rural Ireland and the agricultural sector firmly in mind. The Government has to understand that when it fails our farms, it fails our rural communities and by a consistent reluctance to take action, it has added to the pressures that our rural communities are facing. It seems like rural Ireland is seen by the Government as an important generator of revenue but not good enough to pay back in kind.

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