Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister who mentioned that agreement had been reached by the Council of Ministers in Luxembourg on 26 June last. Reading some of the newspapers at that time I noticed that the Minister was being severely criticised by the farm bodies. An article from July states that farm bodies are turning on the Minister over reform. It was interesting to hear the IFA opinion that a very bad deal was on offer. The ICMSA said the Minister should be criticised for his failure to defend Irish farming interests. The Minister showed that he is a capable negotiator, but one of the best things he did was to hold information meetings throughout the country. I attended one with my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Treacy, in Loughrea and there was a great welcome for full decoupling. The only issues raised that evening were the farm retirement scheme, which has been mentioned, and the question of young farmers and quota. I hope those issues will be considered, especially from the point of view of the national reserve.

The Minister and the Department have made it clear all along – they said this as far back as July – that 100% production was still needed, even with partial decoupling of subsidies. There was no way people wanted partial decoupling; they wanted to go down this road and the Minister has responded to this. However, he has also shown us the great benefits involved in achieving this Agenda 2000 agreement, such as the great flexibility mentioned by Senator Callanan and the lack of bureaucracy. Getting rid of paperwork will be a welcome development among farmers, who are well ahead of us and the farming organisations in their thinking about the future. The Minister mentioned the savings of €464 million that will be made through changes in the degression and modulation proposals, which are to be welcomed, along with the removal of the proposed reduction of up to 13% in direct payments to meet future financing needs. The proposed rate of modulation has also been reduced from 6% to 5%, with a return to Ireland of €34 million of the €40 million modulated.

As a Senator from a rural area I feel the objective of retaining modulated funds within Ireland for rural development measures is important. This has largely been achieved by the Minister. It is important that young farmers receive the benefit of this. Environmental measures should also be introduced because these issues are important in rural areas. For example, the issue of good water supplies and sewerage schemes in our villages and towns must be considered. If we must obtain help through this measure I would like to see it put in place. It is important to consider what we can do for young farmers and those who may feel they are caught by the farm retirement scheme.