Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this very important subject for the sheep farmers and mixed farmers in Galway East. Every night young farmers, parents and families are out trying to look after their sheep in the lambing pens. They do this for nothing. This is an issue of survival. Deputy Naughten mentioned the welfare scheme introduced in 2016. That was prior to Brexit. It was also prior to any of the large rises in the cost of production. An Bord Bia has said publicly that Brexit has had an effect on the price of sheep and on the supply. It has also created a backdoor to Europe for the UK through Ireland and we need to sort this out.

The question is: what can we do here? The Government needs to look at what we are doing. As we included in our budget submission, a €50 million support scheme is required if we are to show respect for the sheep farmers in this country and for their families. It is important that this is not about crying wolf. This is a survival cry from the farmers. We will find farmers will leave the sheep behind them. They will just sell them off and get out. Young farmers will not entertain an unviable business. We need to treat this as an emergency and make sure the €50 million is found to give hope to farmers and their families.

I heard a member of the Green Party speak. This does not have to do with the green agenda. It is about the welfare of sheep and the survival of farming family income. If we do not do this, I do not where we are going. It is not a huge amount of money in the overall context of money being spent on everything and anything. Farmers have shown they are resilient but there is a limit to their patience on this. I ask the Minister to look at it.

Another issue I want to raise is the agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES. It came to my attention this morning that a good number of submitted applications are not being accepted because they are not being seen by the Department on its portal. Correspondence has been received to state the applications have been made. It is important the Minister looks at this. I will send him further details on it. If farmers have applied for ACRES but there is a glitch on the system, there has to be some mechanism so they can be allowed to qualify. This was brought to my attention this morning and a fair number of farmers are involved. I do not have the full details. When we introduce a system such as this and the Department sets up a portal, there is an onus on the Department to make sure it is workable. If there are problems with it the Department should help to rectify them rather than rejecting applications. This has created a lot of stress. If we are to bring the farming community along with everything we want to do on climate action, the last thing we want to do is to find ways to rule them out of ACRES. I know this is not the intention of the Minister but if the Department is doing this, it needs to be highlighted now and nipped in the bud. It is very important. Farmers have given a vote of confidence to ACRES. Let us make sure that every farmer who legitimately qualifies is allowed to participate. If this takes a little bit of tweaking of the system, it should be done. It is important that farmers are treated with the respect they deserve. I will send the Minister further details on this.

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