Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I very much welcome the opportunity to speak on this very important issue. I thank the Minister and the Minister of State for the work they are doing on this. I come from the constituency that covers Sligo, Leitrim, north Roscommon and south Donegal. Certainly sheep farming is very important in these areas. I am very aware of this situation. I have met the four IFA county chairs, namely, Joe Sweeney from Donegal, Des McHugh from Leitrim, Pat Leonard from Roscommon and Kathleen Henry from Sligo. They outlined exactly the seriousness of this situation. I also pay tribute to Kevin Comiskey, who is chair of the IFA's national sheep committee, and Gabriel Gilmartin of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association, ICSA. We have met everybody. Even this week, we had the ICSA in our party rooms. Its representatives outlined the seriousness of the situation.

I had a newsagents in my home town. The sheep farmers and beef farmers spend the money they make in the local economy. It generates multiples in economic activity and I know this from my work over the years. The sheep sector is in crisis. As has been said, sheep farmers were the inventors of the circular economy long ago before the term was invented. I do not know what it was called then but they were very loyal to the towns and villages they grew up and farmed around. I want to put this on the record.

We have put in place significant funding through a range of supports but we need to do little bit more. It is good to hear that lamb prices have increased in recent weeks. We need to monitor developments closely. In the coming period, we will see an upturn in prices associated with Easter. We need to back the sector. We need to do everything we can to support our farm families in the time ahead. Teagasc forecasts that the income outlook for 2023 will be slightly below 2022 levels. This is very worrying. In any business, and especially sheep farming which is very labour-intensive, people need to get their margins. If the margin reduces, it sounds alarm bells.

The new sheep improvement scheme, which has more than 19,000 applications, is welcome. It has the aim of improving animal health and welfare in the sector. There is a 20% increase in the ewe payment rate of €12. The farmers I have met wanted €30. We have to provide a little bit more. The uptake on the scheme must be welcomed. The fact is that 46,000 farmers have secured places on ACRES and this will benefit many sheep farmers. There is range of bespoke measures. They will all probably help in the end but sheep farmers are looking for an increase in the ewe payment. This is what I took from my meetings with these incredible people who are championing the environment.

They are very concerned that as a business or industry or even as a way of life, children will not seek to follow if they do not have the margins or do not have the proper scheme in place that will ensure farming families not only survive but also thrive.

Teagasc has estimated that output has increased by 7% in 2022 but again, the costs are huge at an approximate 40% rise. That does not add up. The €8 million national liming programme is aimed at all farmers who want to reduce their fertiliser bills. Counties Sligo and Leitrim, however, have some of the highest numbers of specialised sheep producers at 80% and 90% of all farmers respectively. It is higher only in counties Donegal, Mayo and Wicklow. That outlines how important it is in my constituency.

For each €1 of output produced on sheep farms, and this was said to me by the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association, ICSA, due to the multiplier factor, an additional 1.33% is generated in the Irish economy. Sheep farms are based across all counties of Ireland but particularly in the west. That is probably areas where other types of farms are simply not possible. Only for sheep farming, that land would certainly not be farmed, and they are farming what are probably the toughest of areas.

We need to be committed to support the sheep sector through this particularly difficult period in which it now finds itself with high import costs. We need to look at the prices for wool in the medium to long term. We need a sector that is attractive for people who want to carry on that tradition of sheep farming. It is a huge challenge. We need to work closely.

I was in Honk Kong five years ago with the Ceann Comhairle.

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