Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Before I came to the House today, I met with members of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association and the Irish Beef and Lamb Association outside Leinster House. They are looking for intervention in their sector, which is in grave plight at the moment. I ask that we bring the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to the House for a debate on this issue. I am conscious that most of our recent agriculture-based debates have been on the forestry sector, so it is time we had a debate on the full agriculture sector, with significant and special reference to the sheep sector. While I welcome the interventions of the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, through ACRES, where he has invested €1.5 billion, the €30 million for the forage scheme, the €20 million for the sheep improvement scheme, which is part of the CAP, and the wool feasibility study that was completed last year, which show that work is being done in the sector, it is still falling way short of what is needed. We are all aware of the increased input costs for fertiliser, fuel and feed, and while beef and milk prices have risen, this is a case where a rising tide is not lifting all boats. The sheep sector is in serious bother at the moment. It probably took one of the biggest hits of any sector post Brexit with the influx of New Zealand sheep into the UK, plus the drop in the value of sterling, which is decreasing the value farmers are getting for product that is still going into the UK.

As we approach St. Patrick's Day, bacon and cabbage aside, Irish lamb stew is probably seen as our traditional dish. It is important that the sector is supported and, honestly, it needs extra support at the moment. I would appreciate it if the Leader could bring the Minister to the House to have a debate on the sheep sector, with some other sectors. As I said, we have concentrated on forestry in the recent past, which we needed to do.