Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Coughlan, and her officials to the House. Most people throughout the country would warmly welcome the Minister's farm waste management plan. Of all the plans we have had in past years, this is the first to have flexibility with regard to anyone who wants to spend money in developing and managing their farms, whether it be for environmental or purely economic reasons. That is welcome. There is a "but", however, and that concerns the 10% differential between certain regions in the west, namely, Cavan, Monaghan and Leitrim, and other areas, particularly those that are disadvantaged, that need that additional support because of farm size and so on. That 10% might not be much to some people but it means a great deal to many others.

There are 166 points in the plan, 93 of which essentially deal with competitiveness. Some people cited the Minister as saying that the plan concerns competitiveness which is the life or death issue for farmers. Senator Quinn spoke essentially for those involved in the end product. My interpretation of what he said is that he had no regard for the efforts and endeavours of the farming community, that is, the producers. Everything he said concerned his own area, the end product that he could sell. It is a pity he is not present because I could remind him that a few years ago a farmer would have sold an Irish beef heifer for €500 or €600 at the farm gate yet at the other end that animal was worth the equivalent of €1,500 or €1,800.

The Minister mentioned the concept of "from farm to fork". Senator Quinn was talking about the fork and had little regard for the other. If his vision of the agricultural plan is one of the farmer sitting in his armchair and that it is time for him to get up, he should take a trip to see where some of the food he sells originates. The people who claim they are talking about Irish quality product do not know its origins on the farm, where the Senator thinks farmers are sitting on their chairs. It was unbelievable, unacceptable and a gross insult to the farming community for a person who has benefited from it so much and for so long to have such a vision.

The Minister has given Teagasc a strategic position in this plan. I query that, for many reasons. Look at Teagasc's record over the years with regard to development in farming. Teagasc had research farms which were charged with the delivery of research and development, as well as trials, in agriculture. Teagasc sold the farms. It also sold the communications centres in many towns. Now, Teagasc is being reinvented and being brought centre stage in this plan. The Minister used the phrase "life and death". Teagasc had effectively died in the eyes of the farming community. I query its ability to drive the plan in a positive way because it is not seen in a positive light in the farming community at present.

Bord Bia, Féile Bia and labelling must also be discussed. The Minister referred to farmers' markets modelled on the Farmleigh experience and said they would be rolled out with the co-operation of the Office of Public Works. If there was ever a death knell for Irish farming, it is the idea of co-operating with the Office of Public Works.