Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for taking this very important debate on a critical issue not only to our economy, but also our society. I also welcome Mr. Francie Gorman, president of the IFA. I have had a lot of very close interaction with both Wicklow and Wexford IFA as well as Macra na Feirme and the other farm organisations. I am delighted that the first female deputy president Ms Alice Doyle is of course from my neck of the woods and it is important we address the role of women in agriculture as well.

We are speaking about CAP. I welcome the Minister’s comments but it is absolutely critical CAP remains as a stand-alone policy of the EU that is separately funded and ring-fenced for agriculture. The purpose of CAP, as he outlined, going right back to the early days of the European Economic Community is to support a sustainable future for the farmers of Europe to ensure we had food security and food production and to ensure cheap food, basically, for the citizens of Europe. That requires that we make available the necessary supports for farmers to be able to continue with that policy. It is therefore critical we have a fully-funded CAP in the next round as part of the multi-annual funding framework. A crucial aspect I will be interested in the Minister’s views on is the need to consider the CAP in the context of an enlarged European Union. Ireland has rightly stood, for instance, behind Ukraine’s path to accession to the Union and we continue to strongly support Ukraine. Ukraine is a very strong food exporter, as the Minister knows, but it would be a significant beneficiary under Pillar 2 were it currently a member. If we see the enlargement we support, we must ensure that not alone is CAP sufficient to meet current needs but also to meet the needs of an enlarged European Union.

It is critical also when we come to looking at the issue of convergence. The Minister will be aware of the problem under the current CAP. Productive farms should not be penalised and I am interested in his views on convergence. It is critical we support those productive family farms around the country. We can talk about a fully-funded CAP but this means our taking very serious decisions around the multi-annual funding framework of the European Union as a whole because it is critical as well, and related to agriculture, that the EU has a sufficient research budget. That will include support for research in agriculture. We need to address the European security budget and I think everybody accepts that, but it means the overall EU budget needs to be large enough not just for Europe as it is now but for the Europe we see well into the future.

On environmental issues farmers are the front-line workers in the battle against climate change. They see it first-hand. On the biodiversity challenge, if we provide supports to farmers they will ensure they address it, but they need the supports to be able to do that.

The key point I wish to make is about the biggest challenge we face in agriculture, which is generational renewal. I tabled parliamentary questions on this earlier this year. The farm structure survey that was carried out, which the Minister will be aware of, shows just 4.35% of farm holders are under the age of 35 whereas 64.2% are aged 55 and over. He knows those statistics. In any other sector of the economy or society, we would be talking about a major crisis there. It is critical we get more young people involved in farming and food production. That includes doing so via our budgets but definitely as part of the CAP. I am heartened by EU Commissioner Christophe Hansen’s remarks in this regard. It is important we expand viable sources of finance for young farmers and that there is access to capital. It is useful to engage with Macra and other young farmers on this. I look forward to seeing the commission on generational renewal’s recommendations in its report. I understand that is due to be published relatively soon. This is a critical issue. It is important for the Minister’s party and my own. I thank him for this opportunity and I am now grateful to share my time with my party colleague Deputy 'Chap' Cleere, on HAP.

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