Seanad debates
Wednesday, 1 October 2025
Agricultural Sector: Motion
2:00 am
Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
I welcome the Minister of State and acknowledge the presence earlier of the Minister, Deputy Heydon. I wish the Minister well in his involvement in the deliberations relating to the budget. The budget is going to be hugely important for the Irish farming sector and rural Ireland.
The first point I want to make relates to Mercosur and free trade deals. Free trade deals are important; they are the essence of the world economy. We have seen the ructions caused across the world over the past number of months as a result of the tariffs imposed by President Trump and the reciprocal tariffs that have been implemented. This shows the importance of free trade and trade deals to the world economy. Mercosur could be a positive trade deal, but we need to ensure that standards are protected. The standards of Irish farming have to be upheld and the standard of any imports coming from Mercosur countries have to be upheld in compliance with European standards. That is the same for trade with the United States in the context of agricultural products. That is important.
The Minister of States role in developing new markets is extremely important. We do not know what the future holds. We need to ensure that all our eggs are not in the one basket and that all our trade is not with a small number of markets. Continuing to expand those markets is hugely important as well.
The MFF is hugely important in the context of CAP and LEADER. Senator Murphy mentioned LEADER. There are concerns within LEADER companies about the future, about whether the guarantees they had in the past will survive into the future and about whether the programme is going to be removed from CAP. Those are proposals coming from the Commission. I do not know what the end result will be, but ensuring that the CAP budget is at least protected if not enhanced is important. As part of the discussions on the MFF, it is important that the governments of member states, as well as MEPs, ensure there is certainty on the LEADER budget.
Tillage is not a particularly major issue in terms of growers in my county, but it is obviously important in the context of the grain and straw produced in parts of it.Tillage farming is the sector in which farmers have expressed the greatest concern in recent months about its future viability and it is important that measures be put in place. This motion contains a request for additional measures for tillage. I know the Minister, Deputy Heydon, will be fighting that fight with the Minister, Deputy Chambers, and within the Government in the coming hours and days until the budget is finalised.
I commend all those in this House who have raised and continue to raise the importance of nitrates, including Senators O'Donovan, Lynch, Cathal Byrne, Brady and P. J. Murphy on this side of the House. They expressed the importance of nitrates. In the previous Seanad, former Senator, Tim Lombard, championed the issue of the importance of nitrates to farmers. It is a hugely important issue for a relatively small but important number of farmers who farm intensively and are productive and who, because of their role, engage with environmentally sensitive recommendations on farming. That is a requirement when using nitrates. The Cabinet sub-committee is in place and it must achieve results. It is up and running and it is part of the programme for Government. It has important work to do.
The areas of natural constraints scheme, formerly the disadvantaged areas scheme, is hugely important to my area of Connemara and Galway west and many parts of the country. The cheque that comes at the time of the National Ploughing Championships is the backbone of farming. It is a needed and welcome injection for, in many cases, small farmers or less intensive farmers who have lands on which people cannot grow grain or raise dairy cows, but where the farming is of hill sheep, sucklers or dry stock and it is important that be maintained and protected as part of the multi-annual framework.
TB is always a concern for farmers. As Senator McCormack said, farmers have an attachment to cattle and their bloodlines and it is a huge emotional trauma when farmers have to see one or ten cows head off to a factory when it was not planned. Senator P.J. Murphy's point about valuations is also hugely important. There must be proper valuations because beef prices have increased considerably in the past year. Weanling prices have almost doubled. They are certainly heading towards double last year's price. It is important the maximum cap on the valuation prices be raised.
On generational renewal, it is hugely important there is succession and that there are measures in place, whether they be financial tax packages on such matters as the thresholds for inheritance tax or the consanguinity relief Senator Cathal Byrne mentioned. There must be the maximum supports possible. We must look at possible schemes. There was a retirement scheme in the past. There were limitations on it. It was onerous and had certain conditions that were harsh on retiring farmers, which certainly should not be part of a new scheme. Generational renewal is hugely important for young men and women to ensure the lifeblood continues in the farming sector.
No comments