Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There will have to be a commitment from those who farm in commonage areas to do the jobs to which I refer because otherwise we will not be able to pay them. This is not about income support, rather it relates to people being paid for doing something positive with regard to the environment and sustainability. The idea that we should focus GLAS payments on low income farmers misses the point totally. This is an environmental scheme. We already have a disadvantaged areas payment scheme to support low income farmers. There are also other supports for farmers on low incomes. I take the point the Senator made about too much red tape. We are going to try to keep matters as simple as possible.

Senator O'Keeffe referred to areas of natural constraint, ANCs. We are required to carry out new assessments in respect of such areas. We must take a much more scientific approach to this matter. Up to now we essentially drew a line down the middle of the country and stated that, with some obvious exceptions, everything to the west of it is disadvantaged and everything to the east is not. That is not a good enough explanation with regard to why we are giving farmers extra payments for farming in disadvantaged areas. There are some very good farms in Galway and there are some very disadvantaged ones in Kilkenny and Cork. The latter are not necessarily to be found in disadvantaged areas. There is a need for a more biological and science-based approach to assessing soil type, depth and all the other measures that can be used to benchmark what is disadvantaged and what is not to ensure we assist and support those who are farming in genuine situations of disadvantage. It is not about reducing or increasing budgets, rather it is about accuracy in the context of who gets supports and who does not.

The Senator asked why all farmers cannot just be given GLAS plus payments. If that was the case, there would just be a maximum of €7,000 for everyone. I was anxious to put in place an environment scheme to which most farmers, that is, approximately 50,000, would be attracted. These are the same individuals who would have been attracted to REPS. If people want to go beyond that and do something above and beyond what they are required to do under GLAS, I would like to give them recognition for doing so. However, that is not the primary focus of many commercial farmers. Their primary focus is food production. If a person's primary focus relates to creating habitats and increasing biodiversity and if he or she is essentially replacing a commercial dividend with that, we want to give him or her a top-up payment. I am of the view that the numbers involved will be relatively small.

Ireland is going more in the area of smart green growth than any other country. I am delighted Senator Quinn raised the issue of food security, climate change and water security. I recently spoke on that very issue in Boston and Oxford and on why the Common Agricultural Policy has been changed to focus on it. In my view, our original approach in respect of the CAP was to focus on sustainability and environmental management of food production. In essence, the view was that the best way to produce was to reduce the intensity of food production on land and thereby increase sustainability. Anyone could do that. If one wants to reduce the level of one's greenhouse gas emissions, one just reduces one's herd size. The challenge we face is how the world is going to produce 50% more food in volume terms - which is what we will be obliged to do in the next 25 years - in a sustainable fashion without destroying water quality or causing further climate change while also responding and adapting to existing climate change. How can we do this when water supplies are limited in many parts of the world? It must be remembered that one third of countries are experiencing serious water shortages at present. Those happen to be the countries which are experiencing the most significant increases in population, particularly among their middle classes.

There are an extra 80 million people on the planet each year and an additional 150 million middle class consumers. These individuals all want more food and energy and demand the kind of lifestyle we enjoy in this country. This is a challenge which the CAP cannot ignore and is not ignoring. We are moving away from dairy quotas in terms of supply controls because we recognise that Europe needs to make a significant contribution towards meeting the demand for supply globally. That demand is increasing by approximately 2% per year. We are doing away with sugar quotas for the same reason. We are also examining other ways of producing more food within a sustainable intensification framework. That is a major part of my motivation in respect of generational change and introducing a new generation of farmers who understand climate change, food security and the need to measure both when producing food. The members of this new generation also understand that the value of slaughtering an animal after 18 or 20 months rather than after 28 or 30 months is significant in terms of greenhouse gas emissions as well as in the context of efficiency and profitability from a farming point of view. That is why, more than any other reason, we need such a new generation.

Senator O'Keeffe referred to milk smuggling. If there is any evidence of people smuggling milk illegally, it needs to be brought to our attention in order that we might follow up on it immediately and, where possible, pursue prosecutions. I take the point on Teagasc and I will pass it on. The Senator also referred to forestry. Perhaps I will return and discuss that matter on another occasion because I do not have time to do so now. I will be bringing recommendations to Government - hopefully in the next month or so - in respect of Bord na Móna and Coillte.

In the context of maximum distribution, Senator Ó Clochartaigh stated that the Sinn Féin approach is that the maximum should be the average. In other words, that everybody should be paid the same amount. That was the Commission's proposal but there was a very strong reaction against it among those in the farming community in Ireland. I agreed with them and that is why we are moving away from the policy in question. We are doing a great deal to move towards an average payment with everybody, but we are not going the full distance because that would be wrong and would undermine the productivity of many farmers.

Senator Naughton referred to the sheep grassland scheme. Perhaps I was not clear earlier but sheep farmers are not going to lose out. We are not taking the €13 million or €14 million from the sheep grassland scheme and just putting it in the general pool to which everyone has access. Those who were on the sheep grassland scheme will retain the amounts they were paid under that scheme and this will be included in their single farm payments. If a farmer was receiving €1,000 from the sheep grassland scheme last year, then €1,000 will be added to his or her single farm payment. Individuals who were benefiting from the sheep grassland scheme will receive the same benefit as part of their single farm payments in the form of a decoupled payment. This is a very positive story for sheep farmers but perhaps I did not explain the position very well earlier.

On the opportunity for farming communities to do something special collectively, such as, for example, in the context, of the Wild Atlantic Way, I must point out that there is a really successful scheme in the Burren which was put in place by farmers and local communities in association with environmental NGOs and people involved in agri-tourism. We support this scheme and we will continue to do so.

We will also replicate the model for similar schemes, particularly in areas of scenic amenity. We are, for example, considering a similar proposal in respect of the Wicklow Mountains, which I would like to accommodate.