Rónán Mullen (Independent)

Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire. Seo an chéad uair dom bualadh leis sa Teach seo. I welcome the Minister of State.

I am very glad to have an opportunity to make a statement on the Common Agricultural Policy and that this House has an opportunity to discuss an issue of such strategic importance to the economy and the future of rural areas. I know this will be one of a number of such debates we will have. Rural areas have been subject to a disproportionate amount of the pain during the current economic crisis. The implosion of the construction sector has hit employment in rural areas hard, while the collapse in the value of sterling has impacted negatively upon Ireland's food exports and prices paid to farmers. Unprecedented volatility in commodity prices, in particular the price of milk which has only recently begun to improve, resulted in the incomes of farm families being slashed.

To understand fully why rural areas are suffering so much one must understand the nature of employment in these areas. Some 42% of the population live in rural areas, but these areas account for a mere 28% of the total number of employment opportunities. In urban areas women form a slightly larger percentage of the workforce than men, but in rural areas men form a much greater percentage - approximately 60% - and many of them were working in construction. Rural areas are, therefore, feeling the pain and the agrifood sector is one of the few palliatives available to ease it.

The agrifood sector is of fundamental importance to the economy. Almost 50,000 people are directly employed in the food and drink sector, with a further 60,000 employed indirectly in all regions of the country. The industry uses 90% of the output of Ireland's 120,000 farmers. In 2008 it accounted for a figure of €8.3 billion or almost half of all purchases of Irish goods and services offered by manufacturing industry. It is one of the few major industries controlled mainly by indigenous companies. While the agrifood sector is of importance now, it will become even more important in the future.

The world not only faces a global credit crunch, but also population growth in the Third World, the rate of which will only begin to decrease by 2050. The impact of climate change and peak oil also need to be considered. Paradoxically, tackling some of these global challenges offers real opportunities for rural areas. The world's population is predicted to reach a figure of 9.2 billion by 2050, thus creating an enormous market for Irish food producers. After 2050 it will decline, massively so in Europe, which means exports to countries outside the European Union will become key. Furthermore, the need to move away from fossil fuels offers opportunities to Irish renewable energy companies to exploit Ireland's potential to grow biomass for fuel production.

We need to look at new ways to develop the food sector and maximise the number of jobs we create from what is, after all, our greatest indigenous industry. The development of the sector has been hindered by a view in some Departments that agri-food is a sunset industry and merely a means of providing subsidies to farmers. This is a nonsensical view which is not shared by the Minister of State or his Department. Agri-food is one the leading elements in the smart economy and the best of our dairy farmers are among the best educated and professional workers in the State. The industry is a leader in research and development of new food products and ingredients.

If one speaks to a dairy farmer, the first thing that may strike one is how knowledgeable he or she is about global economic affairs. Dairy farmers know as much about the strategy of Fonterra, the New Zealand dairy company, as they do about the local hurling club and are as much concerned by growth in China as by prices in the local mart. The reason is that the price of milk is set as much now by international markets as by Glanbia. Price and income volatility in agriculture have increased greatly since the 2003 CAP reform, with a decoupling of payments from production and greater exposure to an increasingly liberalised and unregulated world market which threatens the viability of the family farm structure. EU policy makers must learn from the experiences of recent years and mend CAP structures appropriately to counteract this volatility. EU food security can only be attained through promoting policies that secure the production of sustainable high quality food produced in Europe for European consumers.

After 2013, the Common Agricultural Policy should form a framework that will enable Ireland to develop fully its sustainable grass based agricultural potential while equipping farmers to work and survive in an incredibly volatile market place. Ireland's grass based production system ensures that Irish agricultural production is much more environmentally sustainable than that of other key exporting nations such as Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. CO2 emissions per kilo of beef are twice as high in Brazil and CO2 emissions per kilo of milk are five times greater when compared to Ireland. The EU is the biggest importer in the world of agricultural products from non-EU countries and Brazil is the largest beef exporter into the EU. The rapid growth of beef production in Brazil in recent years to facilitate the major growth in exports to the EU and other countries has resulted in the destruction of thousands of acres of Amazonian rain-forest, as noted by Senator Norris. The cattle sector is responsible for 80% of all deforestation in the Amazon region which, as the Senator mentioned, has removed essential forestry carbon sinks.

In a policy environment where climate change measures are being negotiated and agreed the demand for sustainable food production is rising. Irish agriculture is well placed to meet this challenge and must be supported to ensure the continued production of food produced with low emissions for the EU market. In any negotiations on the future of the CAP we can and should play the green card. As Senator Bradford said, it is a green jersey issue. The card is not that of Irish nationalism but of sustainable food production. If we do this we can create and secure a brighter future for both Irish agriculture and rural Ireland in general by creating employment and contributing towards balanced regional development.

I was very taken by Senator Bradford's excellent summary of the issues, in particular, his three "F"s - food security, food quality and farming families. I was present for the Minister speech and listened to it very carefully. It was very noticeable that the Minister is in a very difficult position and this was reflected by the great caution in the language of his speech. I was not just reading between the lines: it was clear that very tough negotiations lie ahead. The communication paper issued by the Commission last November already advocates major policy changes and lower funds for the CAP.

In the first place we find ourselves striving to find a unified position among the different interest groups in Ireland. I am grateful to the IFA for its excellent summary. Although I understand the organisation is anxious to maintain the historical basis for the single farm payment, I emphasise that we must look also at every method of supporting the entry into agriculture of talented young farmers and the promotion of land mobility. I accept there are issues that must be kept in tension. We are conscious we must show solidarity with countries within the EU that face even greater challenges than we do. We also must find a way to show solidarity with the developing world and ensure that our policies at EU level must not be selfish enough as to exclude their interests. That would be out of synch with our great tradition of missionaries and voluntary workers abroad, the great globalisation of the Irish humanitarian mentality.

At the same time, just as all politics is local the agenda must have a real emphasis on the value of local life and rural life, the value of being able to consume local food produce and how important that is for sustainable communities and healthy living. We may think of the concept of subsidiarity in other areas when we discuss the need to keep things local. That is especially true when we are talking about not only quality food but locally produced food. I was impressed with what Senator Ó Brolcháin had to say about the flying of broccoli although at first I was not sure what he meant. He made the point very clearly and cogently.

There are issues in tension with each other. They include our global vision of solidarity and our recognition of the demands of other newer countries within the EU but also our sense of the importance of maintaining our traditions and way of life . We must try to ensure the national envelope is maintained as high as possible while recognising that these negotiations will be extremely difficult and we must be realistic about the changes that are to come.

As a speaker from the west, I recognise that some, whose payments have been based on production, have probably done better in some parts of the country than in others. Obviously, I would like to see equity for farmers in the west in particular. It is very important we do not lose sight of that.

I assure the Minister of State of the good wishes of everybody on all sides of this House. We know what a difficult battle lies ahead but know also the importance of putting the best foot forward. The issue will be more difficult because of the new co-decision role for the European Parliament in the determination of the CAP. The Seanad will return to this topic with great interest and concern and will follow its progress over the coming months and years.