Noel Coonan (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister to the House. The decoupling proposal has received widespread support and approval from the farming community, primarily as it will do away with the scourge of bureaucracy. It will also allow farmers to farm as they wish and to produce quality products for the marketplace without further restrictions. However, a number of issues need to be clarified. Is there a 100% requirement to farm land to be eligible to draw down entitlements secured in the reference years? If so, this will be a major stumbling block which will add to the price of rented land.

I know farmers who leased land during the reference years. The land is no longer available because the owner has planted it and is drawing a forestry premium on it. If that requirement remains, it will be difficult for farmers to secure land in their locality and land prices will increase. How will farmers who lost quota rights as a result of disease eradication, depopulation and so on during those years be treated? How will farmers who, as a result of errors or bureaucracy, were fined and lost premium rights be treated? What entitlements does the Minister propose to grant to farmers who leased their lands under the early retirement scheme because of ill health or in an effort to survive in farming until such time as their sons or daughters were ready to take over?

A study commissioned by the Irish Meat Association found that decoupling of direct payments from production would lead to a 40% to 60% drop in suckler herds with beef product subsequently falling from 656,000 tonnes to 457,000 tones, a 31% decline. The drop in value would be approximately €445 million, a significant sum. The study suggests that such a drop would lead to a loss of some 2,000 jobs at processing level, a matter of grave concern. The introduction of full decoupling would allow farmers to concentrate on improving the quality of their livestock. The resources from the modulation fund for livestock should, therefore, be used to improve beef quality in breeding and to restructure the suckler cow herd. Focus must be on quality production. This will require an increase in Irish beef for export to Britain and continental Europe. The Department and Minister must focus on ensuring the live export trade operates unhindered and is built upon and expanded to markets in Libya and Egypt.