Brendan Daly (Fianna Fail)

I wish to intervene briefly in the debate. I am aware that other speakers wish to contribute. There is a united voice in this House and in politics generally about the necessity to defend the Common Agricultural Policy and especially small farmers, who are being threatened almost on a daily basis and who are gradually going out of business. That is obvious.

Without being patronising I congratulate the Minister for Agriculture and Food. Since she came into office she has brought a breath of fresh air into the Department, an air that is blowing in several directions. I hope she will continue in office for a number of years and that she will consolidate the work that has been done by successive Ministers of all parties over the years since we joined the EU. The basis of supporting farmers' incomes and especially supporting small farmers is the Common Agricultural Policy. If that is threatened, the policy will come apart and the consequences will be devastating, particularly for small farmers.

I wish to make a point in connection with the single farm payment. For many small farmers, particularly the farmers in west Clare who I represent, it is an extremely small payment. In some cases it is €3,000 or €4,000. That is not sufficient to enable them to continue in the long term. Some schemes have been devised in conjunction with other Departments to put in place employment schemes for small farmers. Many farmers in my constituency work in Moneypoint, for example, to supplement their income but it is necessary to examine the single payment again with a view to establishing a minimum threshold that will ensure smaller farmers will have a minimum income level that will enable them to continue farming, even on a part-time basis.

The reason I intervene in this debate is to impress on the Minister the necessity to support the smaller farmers, especially those in western areas such as west Clare, and to ensure they can continue to have a living from the land for the foreseeable future.