Paraic Brady (Fine Gael)

I will give a quick summary and wrap up. I thank the Minister of State for being in the House today and the Minister, Deputy Heydon, for taking the time out. I wish him well in the negotiations. Everyone knows there will be give and take on both sides of the House to get the budget across the line.

TB has been mentioned. I will clarify something in the new TB programme which people might not be aware of. We asked the Minister, Deputy Heydon, about it in the past. When a badger was tested under the old programme, it was caught, vaccinated and let out. Under the new programme, it is caught and tested to see whether it is a carrier of TB. If so, it is slaughtered at that point. If not, it is vaccinated and then let out. That is important. We will see a huge change in the number of badgers that are reactors when they are caught under the TB programme. That is a big change. In the past we did not test them for TB but were vaccinating them. That was a mistake made by the Department, but it has been rectified and we need to move on from it.

Everyone discussed the concerns regarding Mercosur and where we stand on it.

It was remiss of me - I put my hand up - not to mention women in farming. I have a daughter who comes farming with me every evening and who will more than likely be the successor on the farm. It is important we acknowledge the role women play on the farm and that there is a support package in place for them going forward. We must encourage not only young farmers, but young women farmers to take up some of the activities in farming practice. I welcome that.

Senator Paul Daly mentioned the tillage sector. We have not really seen a cut in any other sector. We need new money in the tillage sector to make up for that. An aspect of the tillage sector we discussed earlier is that we import a lot of soya. Do we need to support the tillage sector to grow peas as a crop and then encourage the beef sector to use peas rather than soya beans in the grain for fattening? It is an area we need to look at because we import a lot of soya.

On water quality and the nitrates derogation, it is important that everyone understands we are the only country in Europe that has held on to its nitrates derogation. No one knows how long that will continue, but at the moment we are the envy of Europe for holding on to it. I hope we will hold on to it going forward and that it will retain its current status.

The TAMS grants are important for young farmers. I hope they will not be interfered with in the new budget. We have seen the buy-in of farmers into TAMS with respect to low-emission spreading and other aspects. Let us be honest about this. In Cork farming is different than it is in Mayo, Longford or Leitrim. There are parts of Leitrim, Mayo, Longford, Cavan, Sligo and Donegal where cows cannot be milked and beef cannot be reared. There might be sheep on certain areas, but there are schemes with which we can encourage farmers and which will meet our European environmental targets. Those schemes need to be funded to give rural people the living they could otherwise get off the land, which is the same as for the man who milks cows or raises beef. If we do that, farmers will buy into schemes that can support them. That is where we need to go. We need to bring in a long-term scheme from now to 2030 or 2035 with real money behind it to protect the environment.

I do not know who raised exporters today. I think it was Senator Paul Daly. It is frightening that our exporters are saying they do not intend to go to the marts to buy cattle that are for export. I encourage them to engage with all Members on all sides of the Houses, Senators and TDs, because this is the lifeblood of our community. For them to say they will not go to the mart is sticking two fingers up at farmers who have reared calves to the specification these people want for export. They have used the Belgian Blue breed and double muscling and got up at night to calve cows. It is hurtful now to hear some of them say they will not go to the mart. It is themselves they will mess up in this. Someone else mentioned that we must deal with MII.It is unfortunate that MII pulled the price of beef last week by 20 cent. What kind of practice has it shown to the agricultural sector? It realised 30-month cattle were coming on board, yet it did not show faith in the sector. It is a sector where we know beef is highly sought after and there is a shortage of beef on shelves in England and parts of Europe, yet MII pulled the price of beef. It has now realised that the 30-month cattle might not be out there and it might have to put the price back up. There has to be joined-up thinking. If we want to show faith in the farming community, we have to respect the farming community.

As Senator Flaherty mentioned, it was remiss of me not to mention the horse sector in the motion. We export a lot of horses to many European countries. I have sold horses that have gone abroad to be used for leisure horse riding, showjumping and hunting. There is a sector in this area that has to do with Irish draught horses and Connemara ponies. We have supported them with some of the agricultural schemes. This is a sector we can support even further. Horses that have the quality and trait of being quiet and the ability to be showjumpers are very special. It is an area we must support.

I will not hold up the Minister of State any longer. I thank him for taking the time to come in and listen to us and our concerns. I also thank the other side of the House for supporting this motion.