John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

I will start on a note of agreement with Senator Ó Brolcháin. He made correct points about the potential in Ireland for food tourism and developing our unique brands. He mentioned Italy as a good example. There has been an underground movement in the past few years to try to promote Ireland as a food destination, which does not appear to have received much support from the Department. Perhaps the Minister will enlighten me as to what efforts have been made in that regard. A great deal can be done in that area.

Last weekend the Savour Kilkenny 2010 food festival was held in County Kilkenny and was hugely successful. However, to refer back to the debate we held last week on the funding of small business, the festival was obliged to charge an entry fee because it could not get a credit facility from financial institutions and its funding under the Leader programme will not be made available until January. The festival was very well attended and most worthwhile. It is the type of event that should be held throughout the country because small producers who are producing unique Irish products would greatly benefit from it. These events also have real potential to attract tourists and do something economically for the country.

I disagree to an extent with Senator Ó Brolcháin's remarks about smart green growth. They are nice words, but they have become meaningless in the past few years. They do not mean anything to people anymore because they do not see any evidence of them having an effect. They are good words, but they have become empty and hollow. The Government uses them a great deal but does not follow-up on them. We should not throw around such words.

Today Members of the Oireachtas were invited to speak to the Irish Farmers Association, the representatives of which produced some serious statistics for the level of employment in agriculture. I agree with the Food Harvest 2020 report, but there are serious road blocks to implementing it. The first is the sheer age structure in agriculture. A couple of years ago the Government suspended the installation aid grant for new farmers and the early retirement scheme. Only 7% of farmers are under the age of 35 years. How many will be dead by 2020 and will they be replaced?

The early retirement scheme, co-funded by the European Union, was an effort to have land transferred to younger farmers in the community. Many children of farmers have lost their jobs and are interested in becoming involved in agriculture, but a farm cannot support two families, both them and their parents. At least, with the early retirement scheme there was €13,000 or €14,000 available to the farmer and his or her spouse as an income for a number of years and a new family could become involved in the farming enterprise. The report will mean nothing unless we can get such people involved in agriculture. They are not becoming involved, although there are more people interested in agriculture because they do not have job opportunities in other areas. The Government must do something to resurrect the farm retirement scheme in some shape or form.

One in five jobs outside Dublin is in agriculture, either directly or indirectly through related services. I am not a farmer, but I come from a farming background. Farmers tend to spend the money they earn in their local communities. The money is not saved but isreinvested in the farm. Farmers will build sheds to comply with EU directives, as they must, or they might buy a few acres of ground if it happens to come on the market. They spend money in the local shop and local creamery. The money is not part of the €100 billion saved in the economy but is circulated in the rural community.