Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State with responsibility for food, Deputy Sargent, to the House. I am pleased to have an opportunity to say a few words on the agriculture industry.

I am worried about the performance of Bord Bia in the export market. When I was in southern Spain and Portugal during the summer, I found it hard to get Irish dairy products. One will see Dairygold butter for sale overseas, but other Irish dairy products cannot be bought. I presume that the vast majority of Ireland's substantial exports in this sector are sent to Great Britain. There is a huge market for Irish products in other European countries. With the exception of Dairygold butter, I could not see such products when I was abroad.

I would like to speak about the importation of Brazilian and Argentinian beef. I am concerned about the accredited farms such beef comes from. It has been brought to my attention that, in some cases, accredited farms are selling beef from neighbouring farms that do not have such accreditation. There are no checks in the system to stop such farms from buying cattle or beef from other farms in the area. I urge the Minister of State to investigate this phenomenon as a matter of urgency. What controls are in place on the accredited farms? How can we be sure that the beef that comes through such farms has not been purchased from other farms in the neighbourhood? How do we know its sole origin is an accredited farm?

A recent Sunday newspaper article suggested that the Government, for some peculiar reason, decided not to avail of a €200 million grant for the forestry industry, which it had been offered by the EU. It seems that the Government decided instead to support the industry from the national Exchequer. Can the Minister say whether that is the case and, if so, why? If the EU offers Ireland a grant of €200 million, would it not be foolish to refuse it? Why should the taxpayer have to stump up €200 million? Why is the Government not availing of the EU moneys? Has it decided, for some reason, that we have too much money in the coffers here? Does it think it is preferable for us to stump up the €200 million ourselves? That was the implication in the newspaper article I mentioned. I ask the Minister of State to explain why Ireland has refused a grant of €200 million that was available from the EU. We have fallen far behind in respect of plantations etc. in the forestry industry. For some reason, our Exchequer moneys are being used instead of a grant from the EU.

I would like to talk about education for young farmers. We have seen more farmers entering agricultural colleges and availing of farming education initiatives this year than we have for many years. It is a grave error on the part of the Government to cut installation aid, as well as the retirement pension for farmers who are handing over their farms to their sons, in a year when our agricultural colleges are overflowing with students. As previous speakers have said, the jobs that are being created in the agriculture industry are as valuable as those in other industries, including those IDA Ireland is trying to attract as it scurries around the world. For some strange reason, the Government has decided to save a small amount of money by cutting the retirement pension and taking away the installation aid scheme. Such forms of assistance are badly needed by young farmers who have decided that the best way forward for them is to take a risk by going to agricultural college, or availing of some other form of education, with a view to having a career in agriculture on the family farm or some other farm. In addition, the withdrawal of a number of disadvantaged area payments is a grave injustice to farmers, especially when this is coupled with the 1% levy on their gross income. That will create hardship on many farms and I am disappointed with the Government's decision to single out agriculture and the low paid in the industry. This issue should be examined.