Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his statement and I too welcome the members of the Ulster Farmers Union who are here today. Fianna Fáil is committed to protecting and developing agriculture for the 140,000 farming families in Ireland. We believe in the family farm model as the main driver of the rural economy and custodian of the Irish countryside that places environmentally and socially sustainable farming at its heart.

The Minister's Government, however, has undermined that model over the past seven years by presiding over cuts to CAP payments, introducing a disproportionate penalties regime, delayed payments, highly bureaucratic schemes and repeated annual underspends by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The underspend in 2017 was €102 million, and it was €106 million in 2016. We have had this debate before. The Minister will have the answers and will again deny such underspends but the figures do not lie. The take-up on the beef data genomics programme was 29% less than predicted, resulting in a 42% underspend. Uptake on the knowledge transfer scheme was also 29% less than predicted and underspend was 83%. The underspend on the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS, is 84% but I agree with the Minister's counterargument that there are projects ongoing and because the money cannot be spent twice some of it will be spent next year. I cannot see, however, how he will reach full expenditure. The sheep welfare scheme is underspent by 81% and the hen harrier scheme, launched in 2017, has not yet made its first payment. It is not due until 2019. Payments worth 5% are being processed as we speak but on the figures I have received the first payments will not be made until 2019. The agrifood sector supports over 250,000 jobs in rural communities and is the largest indigenous industry in Ireland, with food and drink exports exceeding €13.5 billion in 2017. Fianna Fáil in government introduced the visionary Food Harvest 2020 strategy for the period from 2010 to 2020. Food Wise 2025 has been generally welcomed by industry but its ultimate litmus test will be if it delivers fair prices and profit levels for farmers on the ground. The sad and harsh reality of the farmers' plight at the moment is seen in their income figures. According to Teagasc, the average family farm income was at €31,374 in 2017, lagging substantially behind the average industrial wage, for which I have a figure of €37,000, although my Sinn Féin colleagues might dispute that. Moreover, some 35% of all farms earn a farm income of less than €10,000 and suckler farmers and sheep farmers continue to depend exclusively on direct payments for their livelihoods, with average incomes at €13,000 and €17,000, respectively.

With this in mind, I welcome the €20 million for the beef environmental efficiency scheme pilot, which is targeted towards the suckler herd. This payment, as the Minister will be the first to admit, is on the back of the Fianna Fáil Private Members' motion for a payment of €200 per suckler cow. If it was not for our negotiations on budget 2019, the programme for Government and the confidence and supply agreement, I doubt this payment would ever be made. While it is a small start, we will continue to strive to secure a payment of €200 per suckler cow for a sector that is on its knees and that will not survive if it does not receive the necessary intervention. I also welcome the €23 million in areas of natural constraint payments, another payment for which we have lobbied hard. I regret that the Minister did not include the farm management scheme in the budget to combat the income volatility that is so prevalent in the industry at present.

As the Minister is aware, Irish farmers are being crippled by low prices, market volatility, labour shortages, bad weather and a lack of competition in some sectors. I will admit the Minister cannot control the weather, which was a major player in the year gone by and has created major problems for many farmers. By virtue of the fact the weather has somewhat improved in the last couple of months, the winter seems to have been shortened and we managed to round up some additional fodder. I hope the Minister does not take his eye off the ball on this issue. The severity of the year gone by in regard to the fodder crisis will only be felt towards the back end of this year, when farmers have received their single farm payment and when suckler farmers in particular have sold their weanlings, and they then go to balance their books. It cost a lot of money for them to get to where they are today, and a lot of additional expense went on buying fodder at the back end of last year and putting out additional fertilisers this year to try to recoup the fodder that was lost last year. While it might look as if we are out of the woods now, I stress that the Minister should keep an eye on this and bear in mind that he may still need to introduce a hardship fund. As I said, the farmers will only realise how dire their position is when, at the end of this year, they go to balance their books. As someone who is out on the ground, I predict that when they do so, there will be a major shortfall because of the additional expenses they have had.

Combined with all of these stark realities, challenges remain on the international front, with EU trade talks with South American beef producer nations and a UK exit from the EU, as well as meeting our climate change responsibilities. I welcome the part of the Minister's statement that addressed climate change. I know, as we all do, that we need to address this issue. However, as somebody who is engrossed in agriculture, I feel the agriculture sector is getting a lot of bad press in this area when it has been to the fore in tackling climate change to date, and, in fact, was one of the first areas to address it. As a result of many of the schemes that were introduced, although it is not a very well known fact, between 1990 and 2016 greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture sector reduced by 3.5% while production increased by 40%. At the same time, transport emissions increased by 139% and energy production emissions increased by 116%.

The agriculture sector has proven it can tackle this issue and it will. I hope the Minister will provide the leadership to bring us to the next step. Irrespective of what any commentator says, it is a proven fact that food production needs to increase by 50% before 2050 just to meet the demands of population growth. We need the food so it has to be produced. Ireland is a very carbon efficient producer country. I am fearful that we would diversify away from producing food with low carbon emissions and replace it with food imported from far less carbon efficient countries. That would not solve the global issue. It might tick all the boxes and make Ireland look like we have good figures but this is a global issue. The Minister needs to lead from the front and I hope he does so. While I am not being critical in any way, it has not been highlighted enough how efficient our agriculture is and how we have led on this issue to date. Nonetheless, I accept a lot more needs to be done and I am not shying from the issue or denying that we need to do more.

As the Minister mentioned, the major issue at present is the UK exit from the EU. It is a clear and present danger to the Irish agrifood sector, representing one of the biggest risks to farmers, exporters and jobs since the foundation of the State. Some 35% of all Irish food exports are to the UK, accounting for €4.5 billion in value in 2017. The Government recently confirmed the recruitment of 116 staff for single payment system and fisheries controls for 2019 in the event the UK becomes a third country with the EU. The Minister introduced a €25 million Brexit loan in budget 2018 but, unfortunately, it still has not come on stream. He is now saying it will be rolled out in January, which is a mere two months from the dreaded Brexit date.

I could say more but time is against me. I hope we will have other opportunities to debate this.