Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House for a debate about the sheep sector which is one of our domestic agricultural sectors. This sector is of vital significance to many parts of rural Ireland. In her brief as Minister of State with responsibility for rural development and rural affairs, she will be very aware of the sheep sector's importance in many rural parts of the country where the land may not be as good as in the major agricultural areas.

According to the national sheep register there are more than 3.5 million sheep in the country. Most sheep flocks are located along the western seaboard. My county has 12.5% of the national sheep stock with approximately 450,000 sheep in County Donegal - more sheep than people. For example, there are 387,000 sheep in County Galway; 369,000 in County Mayo; and 308,000 in County Kerry.

I have highlighted those numbers because they illustrate that the vast majority of those involved in the sheep sector are along the western seaboard which has seen significant rural decline over many years with young people leaving, for example. Therefore, the sheep sector is very important as a means of keeping young people on the land. Sixty per cent of the farm holdings in County Donegal represent sheep farmers. I am raising this issue which was highlighted by my colleague, Councillor James Pat McDaid, who is a sheep farmer in County Donegal. He spoke last week about the decrease of up to €20 a head in lamb prices over the past fortnight or two and a half weeks alone. This is having a drastic effect on many sheep farmers who are having difficulties finishing lambs earlier this year due to the fact that the weather was very bad and wet and there was slow grass growth. They were forced to feed sheep later in the year and the increased feed prices means that they are being hit hard. According to some of the farming organisations the factories are controlling the prices. There is also price volatility in the UK and sheep prices are at their lowest point in the past five years.

It is not an issue confined to this country but it needs Government intervention to support the sheep sector. This support could be supplied by an attempt to bolster the export market. Ireland exports most of its lamb and sheep meat. We produce approximately 55,000 tonnes of sheep meat a year. Last year, 45,000 tonnes was exported to France, the UK, Belgium, Germany and Scandinavia. The French market has fallen. There was a great demand this time last year from the French market but this has dwindled somewhat this year. The Government response to support the sheep sector needs to be fast and drastic because sheep farmers will be driven out of existence given that the price has fallen below €5 per kilo and according to some of the farming organisations it could fall to close to €4 per kilo. The farmers say that their floor price is around €5 per kilo and when the price falls below this level they are producing and working in the negative, in the red. That cannot be allowed to continue. Farmers are primary producers and they need support. The sector has 3.5 million sheep and farmers are willing to stay on the land which is marginal in many cases being commonage or poor land which is not of much use for any other farming. I ask for a twofold response to this issue, first, that we go after those markets aggressively and try to open up the markets to new Irish lamb, that we promote lamb within the country; second, that a subsidy is provided to sheep farmers either from the Exchequer or through pillar 2 funding which is the €580 million available annually under the CAP rural development programme. That needs to happen. The sheep sector is vital to the economy and it is particularly important to the western seaboard regions from Donegal down to Cork and Kerry.