Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber for this important debate. When it comes to agriculture, for the most part it is not the horticulture industry that grabs the headlines. It tends to be the beef or dairy sectors, but that does not take from the importance of the horticulture sector in terms of complementary farming.

The Minister gave us a figure for valuation of output at the farm gate of €400 million. I had a figure of €350 million from Teagasc from 2015, so I am not sure which is correct. In any event, horticulture covers a myriad of produce from mushrooms, protected crops, vegetables, fruits, flowers, foliage and other nursery crops. For the most part, we export that produce.

What is unique for many businesses and producers across agriculture is that the horticulture industry is very labour intensive. It is not as mechanised and requires more people to be involved. Before the budget, representatives of the mushroom sector came before the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine and set out that 3,500 people work for them, with 60 producers involved. As my colleague said, in 1996 we were talking about 600 producers, so they have had to respond to markets. There is evidence of smaller producers closing down their businesses, some of it in my county where we see metal frames on concrete foundations lying idle, with nothing going on in them. I will speak to that briefly later.

The mushroom sector, with a farm gate output of €120 million, is one of the most significant aspects of horticulture. I fully understand the reason its representatives are concerned about Brexit, being that approximately 90% of the 61,000 tonnes produced here goes into the British market. It is testament to the people behind the mushroom industry here that they have the majority stake in the multiple retailers market in Britain where they compete with producers in the UK and from other countries, including from Poland, although I understand that has declined. The fact that they describe input costs for labour at 40% indicates that it is a very labour-intensive industry. It speaks for itself. We want to keep those jobs. I understand they are under pressure to fill jobs, which is a story that coincides with the recovery in the economy and more jobs being available throughout.

Many good points were made in the debate and the Minister has been pre-emptive, particularly in speaking to those in the mushroom industry, but I want to ask some questions. On the agri cash fund and the €150 million that has been made available by Government, how soon might farmers begin to avail of that because the cost of overdrafts and term loans that the banks are imposing is way above what they borrow the money for from the ECB, which is practically criminal? The sooner that farmers can be helped with their cashflow, the better.

On the producer organisation funding for 2015, why has there been a delay in payment to the commercial mushroom producers? Such payments would also alleviate cashflow difficulties.

On the renewable heat incentive side, the Minister has described the scheme of investment aid for the development of commercial horticulture sector, which is very important. He is encouraging people to consider applying for that to see if there is something they can do. However, a good deal of horticulture requires heating and if that is done by way of renewable energy, that suits us on many fronts, in particular in terms of our renewable heating targets, reducing our carbon emissions and so on. It is not quite within the Minister's bailiwick but it affects farmers and, ultimately, it can help reduce their input costs.

Regarding new markets, the Minister described Bord Bia investing in a market development programme. With regard to beef and dairy, much work has been done to develop new markets. That is always a good idea because it provides more options and hopefully will improve the price of the commodity. What practical steps can be taken in that regard, and what markets does the Minister have in mind? There is an issue about the produce being perishable and the distances over which it can be transported but there are transport solutions that might preserve such perishable goods for a longer period. What assistance might be available to horticulturists or people in the industry to avail of those solutions?

I welcome the groceries goods regulation and in particular a standard provision that the contract be in writing but also that for both retailers and wholesalers, the payment would be made within 30 days. That is reasonable when we are talking about a perishable good, the lifespan of which is one week or ten days, at best. However, I agree with a previous speaker that the elephant in the room is the multiple retailers. Below cost selling is objectionable. It depresses the price of horticultural products. Also, the grading done is based on the physical appearance of a piece of fruit or a vegetable. There is something wrong with that because this country is wasting 100 million tonnes of food a year. That is not all down to people buying in the supermarket. Part of the reason is that people in the horticulture industry are required to produce goods that meet the standards of the multiple retailers. If a tomato has a bump on it but nutritionally is the same as one without a bump, it does not make the grade and can end up on the floor. That is unsustainable, coupled with below cost selling. It comes back to low cost selling. We have low cost selling of alcohol, these perishable goods, dairy and so on. The argument being made is that we do not want to interfere with the market, but the market is artificial and artificial constraints are being put upon farmers. We have high quality produce but extra costs are being put upon them. We need more than a laissez-faireattitude. The issue of below cost selling must be tackled.

I would like to hear a vision in terms of what we can do with these frames and concrete foundations lying idle where mushrooms used to be grown previously. Dealing with those could help more farmers' markets. It is the way to proceed to try to get perishable produce grown closer to home.

The Minister indicated that he is committed to developing a horticulture forum. We want to get stakeholders, producers and all people involved in industry around the table to speak to the issues and the challenges we face now and ensure that we can build a bright future for our horticulture industry and that it goes from strength to strength.When does the Minister of State have in mind to convene such fora? I ask that he do so as soon as possible.