I thank Independent Ireland for putting this motion forward today. In recent years, ordinary workers and families have endured a number of economic shocks. Consistently, however, this Government has had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, in order to deploy countermeasures - kicking and screaming to support workers, families, farmers, hauliers and many more. Developers though, have got their tax breaks and, of course, bankers have had their bonuses increased. However, for people struggling to pay electricity bills, heat their homes and put fuel into their cars the Government's response has been half-baked half-measures, often deployed too late and withdrawn the moment the Government feels it is politically acceptable. I welcome this proposal, which would mandate the Government to outline an emergency response to such shocks. One cohort of people who are no strangers to shocks are the farming families. During the times they are receiving a fair price, which are too rare, the one certainty is that it will not last forever. That is part of why the CAP is so important. It is an important mechanism whereby farmers are paid largely for the environmental, biodiversity and animal health and welfare benefits that they deliver in spades. It is also a mechanism that helps many farms stay viable as it somewhat offsets the entirely unfair prices, which are below the cost of production, they receive for their produce. It is a crucial driver in rural economies, particularly when it is taken in tandem with the LEADER programme with which it is linked. It is therefore of deep concern that the CAP has been viewed by successive European Commissions as a soft touch and something to be raided to fund the pet project of the day. This has led to decreasing funds for Irish farmers in real terms at the very time Ireland became a net contributor to the European budget. The Government wants to spin the figures but I am not sure any farmer would say that the CAP today serves them better than the CAP of 20 years ago. Is anybody queuing up to tell the Minister of State that the new agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, is a patch on the old rural environment protection scheme, REPS? It has also led to reduced LEADER funding for very important programmes in our rural communities. It is welcome to have a rare opportunity to discuss this with the Minister for Finance, whose own Department publishes a report each year confirming the dwindling CAP receipts the Government oversees. I appeal to the Minister of State to seek to reverse previous cuts during the coming negotiations. However, he cannot seek to restore that funding as he denies it was every taken away. I suggest that he actually read his own Government's reports and recognise that his predecessors sold out our farmers in previous negotiations.

Sentiment score: 0.05