Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will begin by congratulating Deputy McGuinness on his elevation to the position of Leas-Cheann Comhairle. It is a huge achievement for him and his family. I want to assure him that while he is busy up here, I will make sure that Kilkenny will be well represented on the ground.

I wish the Leas-Cheann Comhairle well and congratulate him. I look forward to working with the Minister, Deputy Heydon, and the Minister of State, Deputy Grealish, over the coming years.

Growing up and living in a rural community, as I do in Skeaghvasteen in the parish of Graiguenamanagh, on the Kilkenny-Carlow border, I am acutely aware of both the challenges and opportunities facing the agricultural sector and the communities it represents. Farmers are the custodians of our landscape, ensuring sustainable food production for a growing world population, as well as a major driver of the rural economy. This Government has to support farmers and the agrifood industry by using every single policy lever available and ensuring that vital farm payments are both protected and expanded. To put the significance of the agrifood industry to Ireland into context, it is worth 8% of our GDP; it accounts for 11% of our total exports; 90% of our dairy, beef and sheep output is exported; it employs more than 170,000 people, which is 7% of total employment; and 700 rural-based companies, many of which are in my own constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny, export food products to 160 countries around the world. It is our sustainable, indigenous industry. I want to emphasise the importance of the agrifood industry in sustaining communities in rural Ireland. Schools, GAA clubs, other sports, local shops and businesses all depend on our agrifood industry flourishing. It is in that context that I make these comments.

Fianna Fáil welcomes this debate on this vitally important sector. Our farmers are world-class food producers. They are the social, economic and cultural pillars of the rural communities I represent. Supporting farming families is a priority for Fianna Fáil. This is why we have and will continue to implement a range of supports and reforms in the sector. Fianna Fáil is also acutely aware of the cost challenges facing our farm businesses and we have demonstrated our support of same. From 2020 to 2024, we worked hard to deliver investment both on the farm and in industry to provide tangible financial supports for farmers. These measures include a new €1.5 billion agri-climate rural environment scheme, or ACRES, a new agrifood regulator, supports of €225 per suckler cow and €25 per ewe and an allocation of almost €10 billion for EU and Exchequer funding to support our farming families from the period from 2023 to 2027.

We know that Irish agriculture can continue to be a world leader in innovation, sustainability and value. Irish farmers have demonstrated time and again their commitment to innovation by embracing the challenge to reduce the environmental impact of farming with 55,000 farmers joining ACRES. Moving forward, we will continue to reward high-quality habitats, improve biodiversity and water quality, and ensure farmers are backed in terms of income.

As I said earlier, the agrifood sector is our most important indigenous industry, providing 173,000 jobs and accounting for 10% of Irish exports. Fianna Fáil and the Government are fully committed to supporting farmers and food businesses, which underpin the vitality of rural villages and towns across the country, including in my own constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny. The agrifood sector has come through a difficult number of years, dealing with many challenges such as Brexit, Covid, a new Common Agricultural Policy, significant market disruption to the beef sector and extreme weather events. We need to drive innovation and improvements in land management to reduce emissions and build on Ireland's green reputation for producing high-quality and sustainable produce at the least environmental cost, ensuring that the long-term outlook for the agrifood industry remains positive and vibrant.

I welcome significant commitments to our agrifood industry in the programme for Government. Regarding beef, for example, the programme for Government states that the Government will "Increase scheme supports for suckler farmers over a five-year term in office and ensure straightforward measures to encourage uptake." That is most welcome. On the sheep side of things, the programme for Government states the Government will "Increase scheme supports for sheep farmers over a five-year term in office and ensure straightforward measures to encourage uptake." Many of the elected Members in the Chamber will be very familiar with the bureaucracy and red tape involving the agriculture industry and that needs to be attacked by this Government, and I welcome plans to do so.

A strong CAP that works for farmers is absolutely vital. We need to fight at EU level for a fully supported CAP with an increased budget. We need to work at EU level to simplify the CAP post 2027 to ensure simplified payments for farmers, along with balanced and proportionate controls. As I said, we need to reduce the administrative burden and red tape that farmers encounter daily by ensuring flexibility in the designs of schemes and stakeholder input at all times. Very importantly, we need to work at EU level to secure new funding streams which are separate to CAP to support farmers in meeting environmental responsibilities.

We also need to support farm succession. We need to ensure a farm succession scheme that supports generational renewal. We need to act on the recommendations of the commission on generational renewal in farming, which is examining the current policy framework, along with available policy tools and supports available to encourage young people into the sector. We need to update the eligibility criteria for the farm succession partnership tax credit by revamping support and eligibility criteria. We also need to ensure that Ireland remains an exemplar in agricultural education by investing in agricultural colleges and facilities such as Kildalton Agricultural College in Piltown, south Kilkenny. Supporting farm families is also crucial. This Government needs to work with the Department of Health to examine the fair deal scheme in order to ensure it does not impede succession planning and it recognises the distinctive position of agricultural land. We need to increase the traditional farm buildings grant and ensure there are sufficient employment permits to support the agrifood sector, including the equine, dairy, horticulture, fish and food processing industries.

Farmers are in a fight for survival. They are facing the biggest battle of a generation and our rural economy is in the front line. At stake is the survival of traditional family farms and hundreds of jobs in my constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny. The nitrates directive and the serious threat to derogation status for many dairy farmers within two years will have a devastating impact on them should Ireland lose its status. The Government must be prepared to go into the trenches on this one to convince the EU Commission and the other 26 member states that Ireland must retain the derogation. I support efforts to improve our water quality, and I believe that farmers are committed to playing their part with good management practices and making significant capital investments. Carbon dioxide emissions have exploded following a central of industrialisation, urbanisation and massive transport expansion. However, the damage cannot be reversed in a few short years, and common sense must prevail. Farming and the food industry are the backbone of rural Ireland. This is a major distinction between us and the larger EU countries. We accept and understand the climate issues and the impact on the environment, but there must be a balanced perspective when legislating for corrective measures. I encourage the Minister to do this and to engage.

I look forward to working with the Government to work with and for the agricultural communities to help rural communities and businesses to prosper, flourish and grow into the future.

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