90. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for an update on his recent meetings with his EU counterparts in relation to the next CAP at the AGRIFISH Council meeting in Brussels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54989/25]
Sentiment score: 0.01
I want to ask about the CAP negotiations, the recent meetings the Minister has had with his EU counterparts on the progress we hope to see that will result in a new CAP being put in place in the next couple of years, and what it will mean for Irish farmers. As the Minister is aware, there is considerable concern over the extent of the cuts. The CAP is vital to ensuring Irish farmers have a base level of support. It is absolutely necessary to maintain that. Could the Minister elaborate on the progress made?
Sentiment score: 0.31
We are all very conscious of the proposal on the table whereby we face a 22% cut in respect of the CAP. That will have a very serious effect on Irish agriculture in addition to the entire food sector and farm families. The vast majority of our food is produced by small farm families the length and breadth of the country who depend on their CAP payments to remain sustainable. We have had decent prices recently, in fairness. This is attributable to supply and demand and the fluctuations in the market, but for years, many farmers would say it was the other way around in that they were producing food and not getting a good price for it. They had to struggle. I have always said that the best way farmers can make money is to have a decent price for their produce. At the moment, they are getting a decent price but it is very much at the whim of the market. They need to ensure there is a base in place. The removal of the two pillars is very dangerous. Many farm organisations and farmers are very concerned that it could mean that much of the money ring-fenced in the past for agriculture could be raided for other purposes. That is what we need to ensure does not happen.
Sentiment score: 0.01
While I agree, at the same time, we need to recognise - I brought this point up at a meeting in Brussels recently attended by Commissioner Hansen - that this has the difficulty of undermining people's confidence in the EU itself. The vast majority of people across the length and breadth of this country have done well out of the European Union, as have the vast majority of farmers from the perspective that they have been able to expand and grow their farm and have good markets for their produce. Now, though, they see that the CAP budget, which in the 1980s was about 70% of the EU budget, is now down to less than 30% of it. This is a major problem because it is being pushed back all the time. We need to stand firm on the need for Irish farmers and agriculture to have a decent CAP that will make payments to them. I know it is premature to suggest the national budget could be used at this stage to ensure farmers maintain their income and have those supports in place. We need to see an indication given to farming communities that the Government will not let them down and that payments will not reduce, regardless of what we end up with from the negotiations. A lot of farmers are very concerned that, in the coming years, they will not get the level of support they had in the past. I will ask a question later about farm regeneration and young farmers coming into the field. They are not going to do so if there is not a sustainable future. The CAP is an absolute priority in making sure that future can be sustainable.
Sentiment score: 0.17
92. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for an update on his plans to implement the recommendations in the report for generational renewal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54990/25]
Sentiment score: 0.01
I will get straight to it. I ask the Minister about generational renewal, the implementation of the report on this issue, and if he will make a statement on the issue. Recommendations in this regard were announced during the ploughing championships and people want certainty on it. One of the biggest issues we hear about when we talk to farmers is what the future will hold and if future generations will take on farms, continue farming and be able to expand, grow and if they will see a future in farming. It is vital that we have clarity on this issue.
Sentiment score: 0.36
As I said, we are all conscious of this issue. At the moment, I think 4.3% of farmers are aged under 35. The average age is 60 in Irish agriculture, so there is a clear problem here. It has often been the case that the people who take over the farm subsequently go off and get a job, work away from the farm for a while and then maybe come back in mid-life and take over the farm. That has been the tradition. The type of agriculture we are doing in this country now means this may no longer be the appropriate methodology to use. We need to get people into farming earlier so they can build a career and build up the farm from an earlier stage in their lives. Of course, there are a whole lot of competing factors. We have a very buoyant economy. People have opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry and all sorts of other industries, where many would think they would have an easier life than in farming. That possibility is competing with farming. Central to all of this, we need to ensure that this report on generational renewal and its recommendations are implemented. When will this report be implemented? When will it actually happen? We have the report and the recommendations, but when will we have the action?
Sentiment score: 0.07
I am referring to new stuff.
Sentiment score: 0.00
We recognise all that. The difficulty I have is that in the past we had a legacy where young farmers were let down. We have had the forgotten farmers and all that before. It still has not been fully dealt with. I would, of course, say that from my side of the House. We need to ensure we do not create a situation where anything like this happens again. We need firm commitments to young people who want to farm that they will have the opportunity to do so and will get assistance from the Government to do so and that this will be an option for them into the future and that they will be able to see a long-term viable future in farming. The Minister mentioned that some of the proposals will be dependent on the new CAP that will be coming in two years' time. That seems like kicking the can down the road a little bit. We need to get clarity on that. Is the Minister going to wait for the new CAP? The Minister also mentioned recommendations in the report that are already happening and stuff that has been extended. That is fine. We knew about that. Some of the recommendations have a fairly hefty budgetary cost to them. What is going to happen with those and when will they be implemented? Will the Minister wait for the new CAP to implement them? Is the cost going to be taken out of that budget too? That will be another problem if it happens because it will impact on the measures that farmers depend on today. We do not want to see that raided for the future.
Sentiment score: 0.05