Phil Prendergast (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and congratulate him on his recent appointment. I am delighted to take part in this debate. The future of the Common Agricultural Policy needs to be addressed now. We are fast approaching 2013 and, with every day that passes, the situation for Irish farmers becomes more critical. Agriculture remains at the core of Irish rural life and CAP 2013 is vital to securing the viability of farming as an option for young men and women. We must encourage young people to get involved. CAP reform must protect small producers who form the backbone of rural areas and it must ensure they are not neglected in preference to larger operations.

The single farm payment is key to the livelihoods of most small farmers. The Government must act in a decisive manner to protect the single farm payment from the threat posed by the future negotiations of CAP. The CAP process is not intangible; it is about real people, families and communities. I am from a rural constituency. Not only is it rural, 53% of the electorate come from those rural parts. I am glad this debate is taking place in the House. It is time for an informed debate to begin because we cannot wait until 2013. Now is the time for action. Now is the time to decide what we want from the CAP and for the future of the agriculture industry.

My colleague, Alan Kelly, MEP, recently carried out a survey of farmers. The findings show that 97% of farmers believe that CAP is of major importance or is vital to Irish agriculture but more than 90% of them believe that the future of CAP will have a negative impact, which was a somewhat surprising finding. Mr. Kelly, MEP, revealed these results at the Future of CAP - Crisis or Opportunity for Rural Ireland conference which took place at the end of March. This conference was the first of its kind in Ireland and it saw attendees from throughout Ireland gather to hear speakers, including Deputy Gilmore and the IFA president, John Bryan, discuss the future of CAP for Irish farmers. There was great interest in that kind of debate. It was an additional forum at which people could put their views. As people involved in seeing where laws originate and how we might access funds, it is very important to keep in touch with the people we represent and not to forget that we are supposed to be the spokespersons for them and the buffer between them and what can help them.

CAP is worth in excess of €1 billion to the Irish economy in purely financial terms. Unfortunately, because it is an agricultural issue and one for rural areas, it does not get the attention it deserves. I do not say that lightly. I also do not wish to be unfair in stating that. However, there is nothing sexy about it. We need to present a united front in Europe to protect our national interests and ensure a future for Irish agriculture. We need a strong vision for the future of CAP. We cannot have a CAP that provides almost random subsidies to large farmers and companies. We need a CAP that will protect and foster the family farm structure. Of course we have many examples of that in south Tipperary. We always like to be parochial in mentioning what is good in our constituencies. We have already identified that Tipperary is fairly good on cheeses. We also have the apple farms and good farmers' markets, of which the Green Party have been very supportive.