Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber this morning and thank him for agreeing to take this Commencement matter. It is important to point out that, in last week's budget, the Department of agriculture - the Minister of State's Department - received a 9% increase in its overall budget. Aside from the Department of Defence, which was obviously going to get a massive increase, it is the highest increase of any Department. I acknowledge the obvious good work the Minister of State and his colleagues put into working with the Ministers, Deputies Donohoe and Chambers, in increasing the funding. It will have a massive impact on rural Ireland. The Minister of State knows from Galway, as I do in Tipperary, that the money feeds back into the local community.

There was major funding for TB and an investment of €50 million in tillage. As the Minister of State knows, tillage has had a very difficult couple of years. It is a sector that needs some support. I welcome the announcement last week by the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Heydon, in terms of supporting the tillage sector and recognising that it does not need a one-year investment, but a base level that can be used going forward.

Tillage farmers across the country want to know what they are getting per hectare, but they do not yet know that. There is a good reason they do not know that. I welcome that the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Heydon, want to sit down with farmer organisations and thrash out how we get the scheme right so that farmers who really need money can get it. I ask for that to happen as soon as possible.

Obviously, farmers work in the expectation of an income that is coming through and need those decisions as much as possible. Whether it is €100, €120 or €125 per hectare, if farmers know that as soon as possible, they can budget after Christmas and into the setting season. In fairness, funding last year was provided around February or March. If that could be done again, it would be very welcome.

Last year, the money was given to everyone with no conditions in place because it was the first year of the scheme and, therefore, things could be done quickly. We have an opportunity to set a base for how we support the tillage sector and people who are really struggling. It has been an incredibly tough number of years. As the Minister of State knows, the price for barley this year is €190 but was €320 in 2022. The price for wheat last week was €200 but was €340 in 2022. There has been a decrease of over 40% in the price for farmers. No other business could manage that. This comes on top of a price increase in fertiliser from €300 to €400, or 33%. Rental costs for land over the past number of years have increased from €200 to €250 per acre to €350 to €400 per acre. All of these are added costs. Machinery costs have increased by about 20% or 25% in the past number of years.

Farmers have had a reduction in prices combined with a massive increase in costs, which means an Armageddon of challenges for many farmers. They understand that the Government recognises that and that is why the permit scheme is being put in place. I call on the Minister of State to talk to farming organisations and outline as quickly as possible the payments they will receive for the first year.