Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

Are we to get spin doctoring from the Department of Agriculture and Food, similar to that provided by the Department of Education and Science? If that is the content of it, cancel the printing immediately.

As Senator Callanan should know, the greatest fall in income in agriculture is in dairying sector. The decline in income from dairying was 23%. The current exodus from dairying is causing concern to the managers and members of co-operatives because they realise that within a short time there will be a crisis of supply. Look at the number of people who have left milk production. I will give the statistics from my parish. In 1993 there were 43 suppliers of milk and today the number has been reduced to three. What alternative source of income is there for those who invested heavily, thinking that milk production had a future? Teagasc has announced that milk prices will decline by a further 4% this year on top of the previous decline. The three dairy farmers in my parish will be gone.

Rural Ireland will only stabilise when farmers, as they are now doing, view land as a resource not from which they can make an income from farming activities but by selling sites. This is the only way they will be able to keep their incomes anywhere near the average income of their neighbours who are involved in industrial or other professional activities. That is the sad reality and the sooner that hits home to the Minister, the better. For the past seven years, he has been idle as regards farm incomes. Farming has dawdled along, hitting the waves when the wind is against us now and again.

I pay tribute to the Minister in that when we had a serious crisis he at least confronted it. However, he is wrong to claim the sole credit for preventing the spread of foot and mouth disease here. He cannot do so legitimately because it was prevented by people and relevant agencies working together. I grant that the Minister was at the head of the campaign, but no one should say he was solely responsible for preventing foot and mouth disease, although I have heard that said in the House.

Will the Minister and the Minister of State introduce flexibility to allow farmers to judge for themselves what farming activities can be undertaken within the terms of the nitrates directive? Farmers know best and are in no way responsible for pollution or other anti-environmental practices. Farmers must be granted the flexibility to decide when they can spread slurry. In the present climate, they should not be forced by the directive to spend more on providing additional capacity for storing slurry on their farms. If such flexibility is not granted, they will not be able to invest due to indebtedness.

The Minister of State should cater for progressive farmers who have proven themselves to be efficient and effective producers. They know best, so they should be allowed greater flexibility in spreading slurry. We are not talking about cowboys, although some people have referred to them as such. Farmers will not abuse such flexibility if it is granted to them. The greatest conservationists in the country are the farmers who, in so many areas, have responded positively to so many different situations.