Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

When I secured the introduction of the sheep welfare scheme alongside Councillor Laurence Fallon in 2016 at a payment of €10 per breeding ewe, it was always the intention to see that increased over time. The payment was put in place so farmers could go beyond the relevant mandatory standards in place to enhanced standards of animal welfare in the sheep flock. Disappointingly, over the past six years, not one additional penny has been provided for that scheme until now, despite the pressure that has been put on sheep farmers and their families.

Over the past six years, Teagasc has shown sheep farmers’ income has gone down by 550%, while the cost of fertilisers has gone up by 400%; yet the sheep improvement scheme, which is the replacement for the sheep welfare scheme, is only being increased by €2 per head, which just about meets the rise in general inflation but takes no account of the dramatic increase in input costs farmers have faced or of the fall in profitability over that period. Even before the current crisis, my colleagues and I in our pre-budget submission consistently sought an increase in the budget to €50 million for the sheep welfare scheme in order to ensure that farmers would receive a payment of at least €25 per head, which is the minimum required for the lowland sheep industry and which is significantly higher than what is proposed by Sinn Féin today.

It is not just about income, but also about viability, which is vital to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the sector. It is the most environmentally sustainable food production industry we have in this country. While we hear much talk from the Government about making agriculture more environmentally sustainable, there is very little coming forward in practical terms to support that transition.

It is not just about food production.

We have also seen a massive hike in the price of home insulation products. The vast majority of the wool used in home insulation in this country is imported from abroad. Even though fertiliser costs had doubled before the war in Ukraine broke out, and doubled again since, not a finger has been lifted to adapt the use of wool as a natural fertiliser. Shearing costs farmers dearly but the potential uses of wool are not being exploited and meanwhile farmers are dumping it onto the only market available outside the European Union.

We have 3.5 million sheep in this country, producing a sustainable organic renewable fibre, namely, wool, which has great potential as a textile, a fertiliser, insulation and even packaging and yet it is not being exploited. We are not putting the investment into the research. While the Government report published last July spoke about putting investment into research and development all we see is €30,000 for a wool council.

See this speech in context