Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to come in to the House. The Agricultural panel in the Seanad is a very important one. We do not see the Minister here often enough. I have asked him to come in on two occasions.

The first issue, one we considered yesterday, is to have a full and proper debate about the future of native breeds and how they can be sustained in the future. The second issue I want the Minister to debate with us is the commonage management plans that are being considered at the moment. These plans are unworkable because only the green low-carbon agri-environment, GLAS, applicants are included to make commonage eligible and reach stocking levels. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the National Parks and Wildlife Service need to adopt a more hands-on approach to these plans because farmers and planners should have an input from these two stakeholders about what is allowed in terms of boundary fencing, burning and temporary fencing as well. There is no point in them penalising farmers afterward when they should be pro-active in the first place in advising farmers how best to manage the hills as they are. However, they are nowhere to be seen when there needs to be a resolution for the commonage management plans.

I want to commend as well the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association, INHFA, on its launch in Mayo last week. I thought it was excellent. It is filling a void in terms of farming representation, particularly in regard to the more marginalised farmers. I want the Minister to address the issue of the current status of the review of areas of natural constraint, ANCs, and when we can expect the mappings and so on to be completed. The GLAS payments are due out soon and I hope we do not have the same debacle as we had last year in terms of delayed payments that have led to some farmers still not being paid. That is unacceptable at this stage for the Department to come out and use computer glitches and problems as an excuse for not paying out to farmers. It will not be accepted this year. I would appreciate if the Minister, Deputy Minister Creed, could come in here on two occasions in the next couple of weeks to address those matters.