Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the fact that the Government has made an effort to start to meet some of the costs with which farmers are dealing.

However, from what I am hearing from farmers, it is not enough. We had a debate in this Chamber about a week ago on the issue of food security which is a significant concern at the moment. Food supply chains are tightening in this State and internationally. In fact, in some parts of the world, including countries in the west like Britain, certain staple foods are being rationed. In Britain, for example, supermarkets are reducing the amount of sunflower oil that individual customers can buy.

We need to make sure we grow the Irish agricultural sector. Every year farmers leave the farming sector. Every year young farmers make an assessment of whether there is a living to be made from farming and many decide that there is not. As a result, we have fewer farmers every single year. I call on the Minister to make sure there is proper investment and proper subsidies are available to farmers because €100 per hectare is not enough.

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