Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Members of Macra na Feirme, an organisation of which I was proud to be a member many years ago, are leaving this evening to march to Dáil Éireann be here tomorrow. I earnestly request that the Taoiseach be there to meet them at the gates. It would be a good and proper gesture for the Taoiseach and Government to make.

I want to speak about young farmers and the difficulties, trials and tribulations they face. Only 6% of farmers are under the age of 35. This is a telling story about how young farmers feel in Ireland today. I want to see an Ireland where young farmers feel confident about their future instead of worried. At present, they are worried and I will tell the Taoiseach why. They are looking at the Green Party tail wagging the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael dog and Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael dancing to a tune that is being merrily played by the Green Party. They are looking at decisions the Government has taken. I am very worried about the future, for example, when I hear about things like rewetting land, and I would really appreciate it if the Taoiseach could take this in.

Regarding rewetting land, we have to look at what happened to make it dry in the first place and what brought it back from being heavy and wet brown ground, things the Taoiseach might not know much about although, as Taoiseach, he should. He is very educated in other ways but I want to tell him a bit about land. It takes a lot of work, effort, determination and money to dry ground that is wet and heavy. People who did this slaved to make their ground dry. We are talking about places you could not walk on. I was and still am to this day a contractor. I drove machines and drained ground. All I can tell the Taoiseach is that there is work in it but there is also satisfaction in it. I worked in places like the Black Valley where we changed brown ground into green fields. It was a lot more sensible to turn a place near you green than to try to buy land somewhere else. It is outrageous to suggest rewetting land like that.

These are the type of things people are worried about. Twenty years ago, we had good schemes that were sensible in bringing young farmers in and helping the older generation to retire. The schemes that are there today are heavy with red tape and bureaucracy and the actual financial benefit to the farmers is minuscule. I want to highlight one point. I am so proud of our beef, dairy, sheep, pig and poultry sectors. We do it better than anywhere else but what are we facing now? We are facing reductions one way or another. The Government denies it wants to reduce the national herd but it will do it by stealth. It seems to be okay for us to watch the Brazilians chop down rainforests and make their ground green and maybe then they will be able to increase their herd and export their produce to us.

Is that what the Taoiseach wants for our young farmers?

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