Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. At the outset, I would like to put on record my annoyance at the fact that these two sectors were coupled together. They are both very important sectors within the agriculture brief and they are well deserving of their own slot. It smacks of getting them over with. By coupling them, it limits the amount of time we have to converse on both of them.

I will deal with the organic sector first. I welcome the Minister of State's briefing. I may differ somewhat on the numbers, but I think that the difference in our numbers probably has to do with dropouts. While a good picture of new recruits to the organic sector was painted, it is a five year cycle and the number of people who stay in the sector after the five year cycle is completed was not mentioned. There is a large dropout rate and people revert to the conventional farming after five years. That is a very clear indicator that there are issues within the sector and people are struggling to maintain the standards required of them and survive on the funding available. Some 1,721 farmers on 52,390 ha out of the total of 140,000 Irish family farms, while commendable, is very low. It is below 2%. The EU average is between 5% and 6%. In other parts of the world - Australia being a prime example - it goes up to 15%. We have to ask why we are below the European average and so far behind the world leaders. At a time when it is proven that the sales of organically produced produce and food is up by 23% in 2016 we have to import between 75% and 78% of fruits and vegetables that are sold here as organic. There is huge potential in this area, with the proper supports.

As a first-time Member of this House and as a new member of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, I was shocked to realise that as late as December 2015, the previous joint committee did a lot of work on this and put a comprehensive report together, which was forwarded to the Department. Unfortunately, to date not one of the issues highlighted concerning the organic sector has been addressed by the Department. One of the major issues highlighted was same year payments, and there is still a major issue here where people are still not receiving the payments due to them within the same calendar year. This is a problem across the entire farming sector, not just organics, and we hear that the reason is that there is an IT problem. In a sector like this, which is subsidy driven, it is vitally important for the survival of these farmers that they get their payments within one calendar year.

Another major issue highlighted by the joint committee was that the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS, and organic sector funding be looked at. The double funding rule is an inhibitor in some cases, in particular for the smaller organic farmers when they take up organic status because they lose out on GLAS payments. The joint committee recommended that a front-loading system be put in place where €315 per hectacre for the first 20 ha be introduced. Again, there has been no feedback from the Department on this, or no action on same.

It was also recommended by the joint committee that the stocking density for hill sheep or hill farmers be reduced from 0.5 livestock units per hectacre to 0.15. The mountainous and hilly areas of this country lend themselves ideally to an organic system, but we are inhibiting through stocking densities. It is a non-monetary change and it will not cost anybody anything to change those figures and make it a more viable proposition.

The main issue that needs to be addressed is the fact that we do not market or promote our organic products nationally to a sufficient extent. The majority of what is being produced organically is going for export, and I think that we need to be promoting Irish produced organic produce for the home market and take down the barriers where local processors such as local butchers can be allowed to process beef and lamb and sell it locally. A number of individuals within the sector are really progressing by taking the bull by the horns and using systems like the local farm markets to sell their produce. This has proven to be successful.

Another issue raised by the joint committee was the duplication of inspection. Where people are Bord Bia compliant and organic compliant they are having double inspections. Could this be looked at with a view to avoiding double inspections and introducing inspections only where there are perceived problems as opposed to an annual inspection? Irrespective of how compliant one is with one's previous inspection, one still has the onerous task of preparing for another inspection the following year.

There was also a request for payment for forage production, which would be a big help to the organic sector. It would be a feasible proposition for organic farmers to produce their own feed. The biggest cost on most organic farms - beef and sheep, in particular - is that when they have to be fed organic food the organic food is not available and has to be imported. That is a major expense.

Moving on to the greyhound industry, it employs 10,300 people with an economic output of €500 million. Since 2002 there has been 10 million visitors. These are brilliant figures for an industry that unfortunately is receiving much bad press and in the eyes of the public is not functional. We, in Fianna Fáil, support the fact that it receives 20%, some €16 million, of the horse and greyhound racing fund, but I would put an addendum there that under the current circumstances, and given the frightening figures the Minister has provided on the debt associated with the sector, this money should be used more like it is in horse racing. Some 63% of the money received by the horse racing industry is allocated towards prize funds. This is not happening in the greyhound racing sector. The prize funds are minimal. It is like the old adage that if there is no carrot at the end of the stick, one will not move forward. Sales of greyhounds have suffered because of this. The Minister in handing over this money should add an addendum to it that it will apply a similar system and that a mandatory amount of the money it receives should go towards prize money, which would help to bring the industry back to where it was in days of old.

Unfortunately, I have to return to the joint committee which produced a report in 2016 that was forwarded to the Department. If one chooses any subject across the political spectrum in this country and comes across report after report after report, there is a problem. The Minister cited the Indecon, the Morris and the Jim Power reports, and I would like to include in that the all-party joint committee report of 2016. I welcome the fact the Minister of State has said he is bringing it to Cabinet next week, but it is too late at this stage. We have seen what is going on and the state the industry is in while we have been waiting for the promised Greyhound Industry Bill. It is a pity it has not happen sooner.From the Minister of State's report, it is evident how necessary this new Bill is.

Along with that, there must be serious governance issues in the greyhound sector. On the Harold's Cross issue, which the Minister of State mentioned and which I do not have time to go into in detail, when in financial difficulty one most likely has to sell an asset and if one is going to sell an asset, one will sell one's best asset. Harold's Cross is the best asset. However, what concerns me is the manner in which that process was carried out. If one is working, as Bord na gCon is, with owners, trainers, breeders, bookies, caters and staff, one has negotiations and some method of informing people of what is coming down the line, and one does not go in on a Monday morning and put a chain and locks on the gates. The way it has been handled has given the sector even worse press that it is probably deserving of. They did not do themselves any favours and as a result, now we have a strike in Dublin with owners and trainers. Other owners and trainers are put in the precarious position where they will be unable to pass the picket in Shelbourne Park. Already, in Shelbourne Park, we have lost the two semi-finals of the gold cup. If this threatened strike extends to the tracks in rural areas, many of them will not open following the strike because of the figures so well mentioned by the Minister of State.

There needs to be a strong look taken at Bord na gCon's governance and management. This would be necessary of any organisation or individual who would carry out a procedure the way they carried out the procedure of closing down Harold's Cross. If that is how they do their business, it shows why they are in such a position.