Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire Stáit go dtí an Teach seo inniu. Ba mhaith liom fosta buíochas a ghabháil leis as a bheith anseo mar tá a fhios agam go bhfuil sé faoi bhrú agus go bhfuil a lán oibre á déanamh aige. The Minister of State is very welcome to the House this morning.

He knows that Monaghan's local economy is deeply dependent on the success of the agrifood sector. There are data to support this. Monaghan has the highest agricultural export value per hectare outside of Dublin, made up mainly of poultry, as 52% of the country's entire flock is located in County Monaghan. It is also the largest producer and exporter of mushrooms in the country. Local company, Monaghan Mushrooms, is the largest exporter of mushrooms in Europe and the second largest in the world. To put this in perspective, the mushroom industry has a farm gate value of €119 million, of which approximately 85% is exported to the UK. It employs over 3,500 people and we produce 70,000 tonnes of mushrooms each year, of which 80%, worth €120 million, is marketed to UK multiples. These are world leaders in the field and we are very proud of the industry in County Monaghan.

If anything was to damage the sector, it would have serious implications for the whole economy of the county. Unfortunately, the sector is currently facing a number of threats, including in the case of the mushroom sector, the issue of peat harvesting. I am sure the Minister of State is well aware of that and although it is a different matter, it is connected to what I am speaking about today. I ask the Minister of State to bring the message that this needs to be sorted urgently back to the Government. There should be a common sense approach to that matter.

Today, I am speaking about a labour shortage threatening not just the mushroom industry but the poultry sector, meat processing and hospitality. In the mushroom industry the labour shortage is at crisis levels and is continuing to deteriorate every month. For both the poultry and meat processing industries, an increase in imported labour is vital. These industries were hopeful of an announcement of a new horticulture worker permit quota in September but they are still awaiting official word on where exactly that stands. Compounding matters is the fact that the employment permit application process is currently taking over ten weeks. With respect, that is too long and adding to the stress being felt by these employers.

These delays in the application process, along with problems I mentioned in peat importation, climate change, Brexit and currency fluctuation that we in Border counties must live with on a daily basis are combining to potentially create a perfect storm in Monaghan's agribusiness sector and in the sector generally. This matter needs urgent attention so I ask the Government to give it such attention. I look forward to the Minister of State's response.