Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome all the representatives of the sheep farming community throughout the country. I think I see one man I know is from the trade. I was wrestling with a bad knee injury and he offered me his seat but I did not take it up. I heard him say "96 ewes and eight hoggets". Was that right? Little did I think I would meet him here today because I did not know he was coming here today, but he was obviously getting somebody to count the sheep. I welcome him along with Kevin Comiskey, Eddie Punch and the rest of the people here. I also acknowledge Michael Dillon in Roscommon, who has been in contact with me about the future of the business because that is what we are talking about today. As the Minister is aware, Roscommon has a lot of sheep. We have probably the third largest number of sheep in the country on lowland. I welcome the fact, regardless of whether it is lowland or highland, the Minister is a very good supporter of the business.

There has been a lot of talk in the debate about the wool business, but in the short term, the wool business is not going to solve the problems.The problem we have to solve is trying to get more money. I acknowledge that the Minister engages regularly with our party, the agricultural group in our party and with others but it is a matter of getting more money for the product. I accept there has been an increase in the price of lamb over recent weeks but the price had fallen significantly. As was mentioned, costs have gone through the roof. There are major challenges in that regard. In counties like Roscommon, where there are 2,000 flocks and approximately 200,000 sheep and Galway, part of which I also represent, there are more than 300,000 sheep. It is a major part of our industry. It is not just the farmer on the ground and sheep farmers supporting the local economy, it is factories and the jobs in places like Kepak in Athleague. There are a lot of jobs in that factory. It is the marts, the agri-contractors and the merchants, all of whom have been well supported locally by sheep farmers. It is important that when we talk about sheep farming, we realise that, if that business goes down or does not improve to the extent we would like it to, there will be a knock-on consequence not alone for the sheep-farming community but for many other people throughout the farming sector.

Over the next few weeks, in particular, we must keep a close eye on the business. I say to the Minister that if there is any fallback in prices or the necessary recovery does not occur, there must be some type of intervention. I know the Minister will do that and I know he is committed to the sector. We must also admit that the amount of sheepmeat consumed at home is low. It is 15%, I think. It is worth almost €500 million in total to our economy. The Minister has spent a lot of time with his officials and Bord Bia selling Irish meat products throughout the world. I know that because when I arrive very early in town, I have seen him go into his office very early in the morning to deal with other countries across the world to sell our meat products. He works very hard on this matter. The point is we need to do more on marketing at home. We need new ideas, ways, food products and recipes. I would like to see a better push on that. They are there but we could do better. It is a good wholesome meal and it is important. I wish to offer my full support. We engage regularly with the Minister in our party. We know the challenges he faces. If the challenge at the moment and prices do not improve or if there is any fallback in prices, we must examine that particular payment of €12 being increased. Regarding wool, perhaps one could examine the payment of so much for wool through the sheep improvement scheme, SIS, which I think Mr. Comiskey said. It may be worth examining if there is a crisis. Generally, whatever we do with wool, it will not solve the crisis in the short term. More supports are needed than are currently available.