Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)

I welcome this debate. I spoke earlier on rural Ireland and the fishing industry. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Sargent, who has strong links with Drimoleague in west Cork, where I believe he joined the Green Party. I would have encouraged him to join another party but he slipped through the net.

The allocation committed by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 2000 amounted to €147 million and this was increased significantly to €257 million this year. Over the course of eight years, the allocation for the rural environment protection scheme increased from €205 million to €331 million, and it is to rise to €355 million next year. We must acknowledge the expenditure on agriculture, amounting to €14.5 billion, which sum has increased significantly over the past year, and the EU funding of €1.4 billion. I am disappointed we are no longer the popular green giants we were in the European Union and am concerned that our decision in the Lisbon treaty referendum will affect the farming community adversely.

There have been many positive developments in farming in recent years. I am not here to be adversarial but I have a few issues to put to the Minister of State, the first of which concerns the suckler cow scheme. This was a wonderful scheme introduced during the lifetime of the last Government and €250 million has been ring-fenced for it. I am glad the first instalment of the €80 payment is to be paid in the next week or ten days. I am sure most farmers will welcome this. I ask the Minister of State to consider sincerely the possibility of putting a ceiling on the number of suckler cows required for eligibility, say 35. If it were 35, everybody with 35 suckler cows or fewer would be paid the €80 per head. Alternatively, as a member of a farming organisation put it, the total sum could be paid over four years. The majority of farmers, certainly those I represent in west Cork, would be quite happy if the number of cows in respect of which the payment was made was restricted, let us say to 35. Some might argue for 30 or 40. I ask the Minister of State to consider this seriously bearing in mind that there is wriggle room.

I was born on a mountainous farm on the Sheep's Head peninsula, a disadvantaged area. I was disappointed that there has been a reduction, from 45 to 34, in the number of hectares for which the disadvantaged area payment can be made. This affects the most disadvantaged, not only because of the type of land involved, much of which consists of rocks, stones, mountains, bogs and valleys, but also because the land in question is distant from the main centres of commerce, irrespective of whether one is in west Cork, Dingle or Connemara. If one must purchase goods, one is miles away from the centres of commerce. I often see people drawing lorryloads of straw from locations close to Cork city all the way to the Beara peninsula or Mizen. This has not been recognised. I am seriously concerned that, in making this move, the Minister is not saving a significant sum of money. I am concerned that the most disadvantaged members of the farming community are being hit. I would like the Minister of State to consider this further. Although he said the effect is minimal, the stocking density requirement also affects the most severely disadvantaged.

The suspension of the early retirement scheme is regrettable. I understand that under the farm waste management scheme, the Minister introduced a supplementary budget amounting to €190 million. This broke the bank as far as he was concerned. I am concerned that approximately €650 million was spent in the three years of the farm waste management scheme. Did we achieve value for money? Did the Department or Minister underestimate the number of applications? The €190 million has dented his hopes.

I am concerned about the suspension of the early retirement and installation aid schemes. I appeal to the Minister of State to consider the case of those farmers who, over the past 15 months, prepared their leases and transfer documentation with their solicitors. In many cases these leases are stamped and registered. I called a solicitor today who represents a farmer in west Cork and he told me that, in one instance, the stamping of a deed took four months. Subsequently, the farmer had to submit his documents to the Property Registration Authority and faced a six or seven-month delay. In the meantime, the farmer had built his retirement home and had taken all the steps to retire. His son obtained all the necessary qualifications and had advisers in place, from Teagasc or another body, to submit the documentation, to Wexford I believe. It was at this stage that the scheme was pulled. This is a real case of force majeure and farmers in this position should be dealt with sympathetically.

Reference was made to the legal consequences of the abolition of the scheme. An old common law doctrine, that of part performance, concerns what should occur if one goes so far in good faith. It has been recognised by Lord Chancellors in the United Kingdom. We inherited the common law system. The young farmers taking over should receive their installation aid.

The IFA provided figures that show approximately 300 people are caught in the circumstances I describe but I believe the number is much lower. If the Department were to analyse the cases of those who have proceeded as far as I have described, it would realise they must be looked after. I have ten clients in difficulty and another ten who are due to retire next November and whose sons and daughters are doing agriculture courses. I would suggest to them, with all respect, to hold back. A case was mentioned to me that involves a farmer who has taken all the necessary steps with his solicitor and has transferred his farm to his son, who is married and living in an adjacent house. As it stands, the farmer, who is roughly 56 or 57, is in impossible circumstances in that his land is gone and he will be entitled to no pension when be reaches the age of 66. His son will receive no installation aid. Such cases should be considered very sympathetically. This is one of the strongest points I want to make in this debate.

I would like to speak for half an hour on another few issues but must respect the time constraints. I know the Opposition is present to do a job and is slating the Government and various aspects of the budget but I would like to praise Mr. Liam Aylward, MEP, on what he has achieved, especially for the sheep sector. We cannot forget this. In recent days he received an award in Paris and has been recognised by the French President, Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy. The farmers will benefit in the very near future and I hope that the sheep farmers concerned will reap the benefits of Liam Aylward's efforts in Europe. We have should have more people like Liam Aylward.