Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

4 o’clock

I wish the Minister, Deputy Heydon, the Minister of State, Deputy Grealish, and the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, well in their roles and I look forward to collaborating with them as we go forward. I welcome the opportunity to speak briefly on this core pillar of our indigenous and export market sector. It is very important and the sector has kept the lights on in this country in the bleakest of times. It is a huge contributor to the economy and therefore it is vital we protect farming livelihoods. We all know the Irish agri sector encompasses a wide range of activities: from primary agriculture to food and drink processing and manufacturing to fisheries, forestry and the equine sector. It is estimated to generate more than €8.5 billion annually. What does that really mean, however, if our producers continue to be short changed on fair pricing? I have raised this issue many times in this House. I welcome that we have an agrifood regulator in place, but it has called to be given more powers, and this has to happen as soon as possible to protect farmers and to ensure they are getting a fair price for high-quality produce.

We also need to ensure monitoring is taking place at all times regarding issues that arise that farmers bring to our attention and that need to be acted upon quickly. The bureaucracy of the schemes needs to be looked at, and many farming organisations have brought this issue to my attention. The schemes can be extremely bureaucratic and we have to try to simplify them and make it easier for farmers.

I recently submitted a number of parliamentary questions on the issue of the agrifood regulator and other matters to the Department, including the need, as I have said, to reduce the bureaucratic burden, in particular given the increasing complexity and conditionality attached to so many schemes. I welcome the Minister's reply in which he committed to reducing that burden, but we really need to see action, as I stated previously. I also asked how the Minister intended to ensure Irish farmers are adequately compensated for their role in carbon sequestration, particularly by maintaining hedgerows and grasslands. We need to make sure this is also clear. Mercosur is also a huge concern. We need clarity from the Government on this.

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