Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

Mine is a brief contribution. I expected more from the Government representatives. They might have given the House some idea as to how they see agriculture going forward under the present Administration. There was a great deal of attacking in respect of what Fine Gael might or might not do. Matters have changed in agriculture. Many alterations that would have come about over the years were postponed because many young farmers were involved in the construction industry. Now that industry has evaporated in rural areas, those jobs have disappeared and there is no alternative for many younger farmers. It means there will be enormous change within agriculture in the next four to five years. The Government representatives, when they presented the wider picture of what will happen over the next four or five years, should have been talking about this and not just taking cheap shots.

As for the small issues that were discussed during this debate, for example, early retirement pensions, these might have been small from our viewpoint but certainly not for those involved. It is fatuous for Government representatives to say this area is cast in stone and that we should forget about it. When the Finance Bill was discussed in this House last February, we changed legislation so a Government Deputy who was a former Minister could draw his pension. The pension was substantially more than the pension for early retirement for farmers. The annual pension for the farmers we are discussing is still less than one month's pay for most Government Ministers. These are small sums of money in the grand scheme of things, and to penalise farmers like that shows a mean-spiritedness on the part of the Government in making simplistic savings in the budget. It is similar to what we are doing in schools and with the medical card for those over 70.

The Minister of State should look again at these small things and the dramatic effects they have on individuals and present us with a bigger picture of what he sees happening to agriculture in the future. Some of the cuts, which I cannot go into in detail in the time available to me, are not cancellations or postponements and will have a dramatic effect on agriculture and the broader economy in rural Ireland if we do not do something about them.