Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I concur 100% with Senator McDowell. On a second referendum, as circumstances change, so too should people's opinions be allowed to change if they so wish. I sincerely hope that a second referendum will be the ultimate outcome and that UK citizens will have an opportunity to vote based on what they know today as opposed to what they were told was going to happen two years ago.Today, I wish to raise the plight of the farming community. Yesterday, Teagasc launched its review of the year gone by and an outlook for the year ahead. It makes very depressing reading, particularly for farmers. Costs continue to increase, including foodstuffs, fuel or fertilisers, while prices continue to decline across all sectors but for suckler and sheep farmers in particular. We all know the benefit of the farming sector to the Irish economy. Thankfully our exports are booming. That is great news and long may it continue, but we should not forget that these exports are achieved on the back of the farming community. For the vast majority, their incomes are between €12,500 and €17,500 per annum and that does not include their own time and labour.

If we are serious about ensuring that our exports continue, we cannot allow the farming community to fall by the wayside because we are killing the goose that lays the golden egg. It is high time that we ask the Minister to come to the House to facilitate a debate about the future of farming. The reality is that were subsidies to be removed, many farmers could not survive at all. If we are to continue to see exports boom, something must be done to protect our farming community. I ask that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine come to the House as soon as is practical in order that we can have a discussion on the future of farming.