Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)

The Minister of State is very welcome. It is my first time to address him in the House. It is interesting to note the number of speakers on this issue which shows how important the renegotiation of the CAP is to Ireland.

At present we get €1.3 billion from Europe in single farm premia. That is a substantial amount of money which helps many people in this country. I was encouraged to see, however, that the CAP represents less than 0.5% of the overall EU gross domestic product, GDP, budget. I would be very fearful that the CAP would end or that the single farm premium would be taken away from Irish farmers but am encouraged to see that it represents such a small amount of the EU budget and that 22 countries are already on board. The Minister of State might tell me when I finish which countries are not. If I were to guess I would say the giants.

I have seen farming go through enormous changes over the years. I grew up on a dairy farm and am married to a farmer. I saw a time when it was possible to produce in dairy as much as one wished. Then there was the time of the milk lakes and beef mountains - oversupply - followed by the quota systems. As a result we went through control. Once a farmer is controlled he or she must be supported in some way to maintain an income.

I did not catch every speaker today but I listened to some, such as Senator O'Malley, who asked why we did not offer subsidies as a jump start. There are only two ways in which an Irish farmer can make money at present; through market price by getting the price for the produce, or through subsidy in the form of the single farm premium. I, too, have asked that very question. However, the fact is that the subsidy exists for the consumer not for the farmer. We must get that message out loud and clear. It is only because the farmer gets a subsidy in the form of the single farm premium - previously there were other premia - that the cost of food is not enormous. The consumer would suffer otherwise. The market alone will not allow farmers to realise enough money from their produce.

I spoke to a small number of farmers today in preparation for this debate and asked them why this issue is so important to us. The view was that the continuation of the fund was needed and farming cannot survive on its own in the country. We are a special case as our parcels of land are too small and we need relatively intensive farming compared with other countries in the EU. As a result, farmers are dependent on subsidisation.

For example, we cannot run one bullock to ten acres as we do not have the scope or the space. Other states in the EU have large tracts of land. I spent time in Romania which has very large tracts of land, and France and Germany are the same. I am sure the Minister of State will be part of the negotiating team when we go to Europe and that team must come up with a two-way process that will ensure fair play for the whole of Europe and the Irish farmer. Negotiation between these two goals must be kept in mind.

Ireland, which has been part of the process for a long time, has its payments based on the 2000 to 2002 reference years. That will not work for the newer states, some of which have very large tracts of land. The negotiating team will have to be measured and one size will not fit all. The variations must be taken into account but we are a special case in that we cannot produce or remain viable without the subsidy and our parcels of land are small.

Decoupling has been a success, although there are different views on this as it has made it possible for farmers to plan. It is also possible to farm better with fewer animals in Ireland. Outside of the subsidy, we are totally dependent on exports to achieve a market for our produce, and our exporting is largely through meat plants. Beef and sheep farmers are the subjects of meat factories and, when a person is the subject of anything, he or she is being controlled by it. The price is controlled like this.

Live export is our main hope because we are an island nation and it provides competition in the livestock trade. That is always under threat and especially at times by the Minister of State's partners in Government, the Green Party. We must consider the issue because farming is so volatile. As a member of a household reliant on farming, I can see how unreliable it is as a job and how significant are the costs. We are subject to so much volatility from the weather, disease and regulation. The costs are also significant so without a good renegotiation of CAP, many more farmers will leave the sector.

The more livestock that leaves Ireland on the hoof through live export, the better it is for farming and competition. It is not necessarily better for the economy. If we sell cattle and sheep through the meat plants, we keep jobs in the country and there are spin-off effects into the local economy. That must be borne in mind and there is a market control on us in the need to negotiate a good CAP deal.

These are reasons CAP is so critical and we are so dependent on it. We are, ultimately, talking about keeping farming viable and providing a secure food sector with good quality food. Others have mentioned the growth in population across the globe, and by 2050 we will be up to 9.2 billion people. There should be an extremely healthy outlet for our food production, and, across the world, we have a great reputation for food. Our industry is based on grassland and we should make more of that. I concur with a former Senator who said we must spend a little more on innovation and research in the food industry.

We are fortunate that Máire Geoghegan-Quinn has the research portfolio in Europe and she should consider Irish agriculture and the food industry to see how it can benefit. Creativity is critical in leading to enterprise in this sector. Senator Joe O'Reilly mentioned putting a few breadcrumbs on meat but, with respect to the Senator, there is more involved.

There is a greater dependence on CAP now due to cuts and the mismanagement of public finances by the Government. Installation aid is gone, REPS payments are down 22% and headage is down by 25%. There is a mess in the farm waste management scheme and the suckler cow scheme has been cut, so we are pretty much on our knees.