Ian Marshall (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chair. If we consider that 37.3% of the population resides in what is regarded as aggregated rural areas, with more than 40.8% of people defined as rural, this issue applies to a huge proportion of the population.

Rural development and the strategy connected with rural development must focus and must centre on upskilling and on education. It must focus on the removal of obstacles that are restrictive and problematic for rural communities so they can progress and be successful.

Rural areas have a competitive advantage in many areas such as agrifood, renewable energy, creative industries, marine industries and tourism. There are many areas in which rural communities have an advantage. A local bottom-up approach must be key to the implementation of some of this strategy. Investment in infrastructure and ICT, on services and on connectivity is key. Whether this means connectivity by road networks or by rural broadband, it is imperative that it is addressed if we are serious about supporting rural communities.

Government Departments working together is an important element as the rural component is sometimes overlooked. This element of Departments working together should not be a token gesture; it must be really integrated and linked.

This morning I shared with the House some figures that were released last night in the national farm survey by Teagasc. Average farm income was up 32% with the average farm now declaring an income of more than €31,000. Dairy farm income is up 65%, tillage farm income is up 20%, and the sheep farm income is up 8%. This appears to be impressive and at face value it seems to be good news, but we need to be very careful about these figures because they are average incomes. It was made known to me some months ago, when talking about average incomes, that if one's feet are in the freezer, one's head is in the oven and one's body temperature in the middle is average, one thinks one is okay but one is are actually dying. We need to be very careful in how we treat averages. Subsidies account for 56% of this money and if we remove that component, then the income does not look particularly good. Incomes are up significantly but they have come from a very low base. A small family farm in rural Ireland is still punching way below its weight in what income it should receive to be equitable with urban and city areas.

In the Teagasc farm survey statistics dairy fortunes are driven very much by markets. On the back of the dairy crisis and an under-supply in the industry we have a huge increase in dairy revenues but if we remove the dairy component from this figure, the average income comes down to about €20,000 per business.If we strip that down further to look at the beef industry, the average income is between €12,600 and €16,000, which is quite embarrassing. This situation is not sustainable for small family farms and rural businesses. The success of this industry is significantly linked to the success of this country. Investment in research and development, innovation and educational supports is needed. The statistics show that complacency would be very dangerous. We must not ease up on the pressure to invest in and support research and development and education as a means of promoting, marketing and supporting the agrifood industry in every way possible.

Rural development must take place in conjunction with, and as part of, the development of urban and city areas. It cannot be treated as something separate. In another job in a former life, I was involved in a number of strategies. It is good to develop and document strategies, but implementation is key to all of this. I have watched many strategies gather dust on shelves. This does not mean they failed during the implementation phase. Brexit is the default issue which many of us seem to fall back on during these discussions. It is the elephant in the room. I would like to ask the Minister about Brexit in the specific context of this strategy. What has changed? What will change? What needs to change in this policy to make it Brexit-ready and Brexit-proof?