Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to talk about the €100 million beef package that was well advertised before the election to cover the income losses that beef farmers have incurred, or may incur, because of Brexit. We have now learned that the €50 million from the EU is on the basis that the beef sector will be restructured.This has caused much concern for farmers all over the country but particularly those in the west of Ireland who are dependent on suckler cows. Does this mean the number of suckler cows must be reduced? We need the Minister to come to the House to explain it. A sum of €50 million was to come from the State but we now find this is to be made up from savings from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. They did not tell us that before people went to the ballot boxes. We have no idea who will receive this money and we need to know who will receive it and that it will be distributed on an equitable basis.

None of these matters was highlighted before the election, which is symptomatic of something that happens time and again here. There are headlines and budgets in Departments for public relations exercises but once we are beyond the fooling of people as they go to the ballot boxes, the real truth emerges. As a matter of urgency, I want the Minister to come to the House and tell the truth. Is the €100 million there and to whom will it go? What are the conditions attached to that funding? Farmers deserve that information. Farmers and the agriculture sector in general have struggled for many months and years and they now have the threat of a hard Brexit. They received promises but they have now found these to be no more than smoke and mirrors. I want some answers from the Minister about this issue.