Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. He has been busy up to now and he will be even busier in the coming months. I welcome the comments from the Fianna Fáil Senators to the effect that while they wish to raise certain matters, there is no particular division among us and that we are all singing from the same hymn sheet.

It always strikes me as extraordinary that the CAP negotiations appear almost as a footnote in television and radio news programmes or in newspaper reports. I am amazed by the fact that the concept of the CAP has failed to ignite the public's interest. The CAP negotiations involve large sums of money and, if Members will excuse the expression, a bit of horse-trading, two things which are pretty dear to most people's hearts. Central to the CAP is how a massive amount of public money is spent. I often wonder how this can be seen as boring and how it does not merit significant debate, discussion and argument. With the exception of a very limited community of people, however, it never seems to give rise to the latter.

I welcome the opportunity to support the Fine Gael motion, which gives us the chance to begin a debate in respect of the CAP. It also underlines the centrality of the CAP and the importance of the new proposals to the future prospects and, I hope, prosperity of the country. It is that important. Statistics relating to the food industry in this country are always worth repeating, not least because they are very dear to the Minister's heart. Some 23,000 jobs are linked to the agrifood industry, which has a turnover of ¤24 billion, is responsible for almost ¤9 billion worth of exports and gives rise to the purchase of ¤8 billion worth of materials, most of which are bought in Ireland. This country is now the largest net exporter of dairy ingredients, beef and lamb in Europe and is the UK's largest supplier of food and drink and this should not be forgotten. I accept that the Minister does not have a magic wand when it comes to the negotiations and he does not need me or anyone else present to remind him of their importance.

The Minister is one of that very small group of people for whom - if they every get any time to eat - the CAP is probably breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is no exaggeration to say that the future development and success of the food industry in Ireland is intricately linked with what will happen in the coming weeks and months. The co-decision powers of the European Parliament are going to be a significant factor on this occasion. The latter's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development has been vociferous in its support of restoring the proposed cuts to pillars 1 and 2.

A German MEP, Albert Dess, recently reminded the Commission that history has shown that when government payments to farms are reduced, food prices automatically increase and consumers suffer from having to pay more, which is not a result that anyone wants. The IFA is organising a day of action next week to underline the seriousness of the CAP proposals. In effect, it is reminding us that CAP is not about farmers simply getting a handout - it is a vital support for an indigenous industry. Despite improvements in management skills, technology, feeds and fertiliser, etc., the agriculture industry is subject to enormous volatility in food commodity pricing, price pressures for inputs and, ultimately, the weather, which remains outside everyone's control. We have seen this year that the weather can have a vicious and significant impact on farmers in Ireland and throughout the world.

I know the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has been organising its approach to the CAP proposals for many months. I understand the Minister has heard many varied submissions from interested parties. It is obvious that the agreement is complex. I pay tribute to the departmental officials who have dedicated enormous time, effort and experience to these vital negotiations and will continue to do so. The word "experience" will really come into play during Ireland's Presidency of the EU next year. We should not forget that other countries will be turning to Ireland because they know our officials can use their experience to close a deal.

I would like to make a few comments on pillar 2 - rural development - of the CAP. I am sure the Minister has been repeatedly urged to ensure those who benefit from direct payments are productive farmers and to pay a great deal of caution to the so-called "flattening effect". I urge him to ensure the ultimate negotiation on these CAP proposals does not result in factory farms in Ireland. Such large-scale entities are run as businesses. They are not really part of our communities because they are not in tune with the ethos of the way Irish farming has developed. There must be an appropriate middle ground that reflects the way Irish people live and work. Over 40% of the population lives and works in rural areas. The stated objectives of pillar 2 are to enhance the economic viability of agriculture through investment and modernisation, to preserve the rural environment in the countryside and to support the wider rural economy. These issues are at the heart of what the CAP is about. We have to make sure we value the role our rural community plays in sustaining the farming community. As the world moves towards greater urbanisation, we have to ensure the role of our farmers in underpinning and protecting the environment is strengthened, supported and encouraged. Equally, we need to value the unique role agriculture has played in Ireland's growth and development over recent decades. Like my colleague, Senator Comiskey, I am concerned about the lack of detail on pillar 2. Perhaps the Minister will be in a position to comment on that when he addresses the House.

I join other Senators in taking this opportunity to encourage the Minister to argue for a reasonable budget that is 50:50 co-financed. That is needed to ensure that people in rural communities, including farmers, can continue to be sustained. As the Minister and his officials make their arguments during the negotiations, they will draw strength from Ireland's past performance. I refer, for example, to the strong uptake of key initiatives like REPS, AEOS, the young farmers' installation scheme and the Leader programme. The money that is spent on REPS and Leader projects, in particular, is spent locally on goods and services. Leader initiatives have begun to open up rural enterprise. In the next five years, we will look to the Leader programme and the REPS to enhance our food and agri-tourism offerings in rural communities. When I spoke about this issue previously in the House, I said I believed Ireland must develop such offerings and could do so. They will grind to a halt if rural development funding is seen as less important or is cut in any significant way. It is true that these enterprises are not on the scale of the international food companies that are driving our exports and Food Harvest 2020 targets.

In general, small and medium-sized enterprises play a valuable role in creating jobs in this country. That role is even more significant in rural communities, where the value of their contribution to the social fabric cannot be under-estimated. Productive, enterprising and forward-thinking farmers who want to invest in their businesses so that they grow need to see continued investment in the agriculture sector. Direct and indirect investment is needed to give them the confidence to build their businesses. As Senator Ó Domhnaill said, such steps are necessary to ensure they do not consider leaving the land. We should not be afraid to say that the social fabric of communities is important. This value should be considered as having primary importance in the CAP negotiations, which often tend to veer towards the purely financial. As the mission statement of the Leader programme refers to social inclusion, poverty reduction and economic development, these factors need to be at the centre of the rural development element of the negotiations.

I am aware that the so-called "greening" issue is terribly technical. I am sure it will require a lot of arguing. The core vision of Food Harvest 2020, which involves the production of high quality food from a sustainable agriculture sector, implies and expects that the environmental question will become more crucial and heated in years to come. Farmers have a key role to play as the main guardians of our natural environment and our ecosystems. The Common Agricultural Policy needs to reflect that by supporting and encouraging Irish and European farmers to manage their farms and reach their targets without sacrificing the environment. I know that substantial progress has been made in Ireland. It is imperative that the greening bar is not set at an impossibly high level for pillar 1 payments, as that could discourage farmers from taking up rural development schemes. I wonder whether the greening efforts under rural development can be classified for the pillar 1 greening payments. There are indications that the proposed 7% set-aside requirement might be reduced to a more appropriate 5% requirement. Perhaps the Minister will be able to respond to that. The IFA has accurately described Irish farming and the Irish landscape as being akin to a patchwork quilt which completely fails to fit the 7% approach and really does not suit tillage farmers, who would be in the figurative firing line if such a change were made.

I hope we will have an opportunity to debate the negotiations again as they continue. As time is short, I will conclude by referring briefly to the least-favoured areas review. It is important that there is some local flexibility with regard to the changed criteria of so-called "natural handicap". While this is one of the smaller aspects of the CAP, obviously it will become quite important. I suspect that the lands which may be reclassified will not have changed dramatically - it is just the criteria that will have been changed. I understand that 75% of our land is classified as less favoured. There may be some loss to us. I ask the Minister to take that into account. I wish the Minister well as he continues with these difficult negotiations and urge him to put our rural communities to the fore in his conversations and persuasions.