Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sheep farming is an important driver of economic activity in many parts of rural Ireland, generating €476 million in exports alone in 2022 from 47,123 farms involved in sheep farming, especially in areas that were otherwise starved of inward investment. Mayo is a mountainous county where agriculture plays a vital role in underpinning the rural economy. In Mayo more than 30% of the county has some level of environmental legislation, such as Natura, special areas of conservation, or natural heritage areas, NHAs. It is because of this that sheep farming represents the only realistic option for many farmers. All of those farmers are under pressure. Sheep farmers in Mayo have in recent years endured the collapse of wool prices, rising input costs, and indeed Brexit. It is estimated that close to 75% of Mayo's sheep farmers, or around 4,000, are hill farmers. Around a quarter of the flocks in the county are lowland operations. However, making a living from hill and lowland sheep production is not easy as it is under severe threat. As my colleague Deputy Carthy stated, sheep farmers have seen their net margins decrease from 81% to a paltry €7 per ewe. I note the Minister said in his opening statement that it was €6.85 per kilo, I think, in Donegal. However, we have to remember at this time of the year that most farmers will be selling their lambs come the back end of the year from September and October onwards. Therefore the price that is there now does not really reflect what they will secure a number of months later. What that really means is that the direct payment farmers receive is being transferred to meat producers and supermarkets. Direct payments were created to ensure the security of our food supply and to provide a decent standard of living to farmers. When meat processors are allowed to drive down prices public money is redirected away from where it is intended and to corporate profits. Low prices also mean farmers are pushed into larger, more intensive practices to remain viable. The average farm in Mayo is just 22 ha and the average flock has just 82 ewes. The vast majority are completely organic but the model is in danger. While lowland farmers may have the option to change or combine farming enterprises, hill farmers cannot.

Once a valuable commodity that farmers derived income from, international pressures on market prices has resulted in income derived from wool being largely subsumed to offset the cost of shearing. The Government put the issue on the long finger and told farmers to wait for the publication of the feasibility study on the potential to develop the domestic wool sector. I welcome that the Minister has set up the Wool Council. As was said, it needs to get into action and to be properly resourced to do what it has to do in that regard because there is huge potential there.

We have not talked about Brexit and its impact. The reason sheep farmers are so hard-pressed at the moment is because of the failure of the Government to invest in the sector and bring resilience so they have space in their margins to observe the impact of market volatility. The Minister's colleagues come to the House and vote one way and then go to their constituencies and say something else. It is very clear across the House that the ewe premium needs to be increased to €20 and the Minister needs to get on to the same page as that because the €2 increase was absolutely not enough.

I also want to say, so that we are very clear, that the sheep welfare scheme will provide for the volatility that is there. I welcome the Minister's lime initiative but I ask that he ensures the producers of the lime do not hike up the prices, particularly for example in Ballycroy, Belmullet or round that area in Mayo, where there is a two hour each way round trip for the delivery of lime, so that there are not extortionate costs for it. It is a good initiative but it needs to be made affordable for people. We need better markets for light lambs, that is between 12 kg and 13 kg when killed out. We need to make sure there is a market for that and for what is produced in marginalised areas and land such as my own. There are very practical things that can be done to make sheep farming viable and I ask the Minister to do them.

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